Membership Benefits

Advocacy:

• Represent the shared interests of the membership on all key tourism- related standing committees and organisations, on key ad hoc and task specific working groups, at major national tourism events, functions, meetings and conferences.
• Respond formally and informally on behalf of the membership at all key stages of tourism and tourism related consultations and inquiries.
• Encourage individual members to respond to critical consultations, providing evidenced arguments and co-ordinating key messages.
• Inform the views of other national tourism organisations and bodies, Government departments, national agencies, political parties, individual politicians and others of influence.
• Demonstrate and evidence that through British Destinations the individual member bodies have a national and international voice and are influencing national and EU policy on behalf of their tourism partners, businesses and consumers.
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with a wide network of influential national and international public and private sector contacts.
• Build and retain a strong national profile and reputation for the organisation and for the views and opinions of its membership.

Corporate Public Relations:

• Act as a focal point for both pro-active and reactive national and international media contacts and enquiries on UK destination-based and local public sector related tourism matters.
• Function as a national voice for UK destinations and provide a contact point for informed comment on domestic, destination based tourism and public sector sponsored tourism policy and product issues.
• Proactively seek to generate informed national debate on key public and private sector policy and product issues relating to UK destinations
• Respond to and defend destination-based tourism from ill informed or incorrect media comment

Marketing and Product related PR:

• Facilitate the opportunity to participate in added value joint national level marketing campaigns, where unfulfilled demand exists.
• Maintain a high profile factual, public facing portal website.
• Facilitate or create national product related PR opportunities for individual or groups of members.
  Provide promotional information and members’ marketing and PR contact details to the national media and key domestic travel industry buyers.
• Facilitate and inform the membership of occasional, usually short notice, low or no cost individual marketing and PR opportunities provided by commercial or non-commercial third parties.
• Keep abreast of and brief the membership on new and emerging marketing and PR opportunities, methods and mechanisms.

Information:

• Facilitate the collection of robust local tourism data and management information
• Identify national data gaps and where possible facilitate the production of appropriate research.
• Gather, collate, interpret and distribute timely information on key national tourism opportunities, threats, trends and developments
• Gather, interpret and distribute anecdotal evidence/intelligence and indicative information from within the membership.
• Facilitate the exchange of information and practical advice on operational and policy issues for individuals or groups of member organisations on an as required basis.
• Produce occasional advice sheets promulgating best practice on various aspects of destination tourism management, development and promotion
• Act as a repository for key national reports and function as a directory for contacts and as a signposting service for other sources of information or expertise on all matters of a tourism nature
• Circulate details of critical discussions, key decisions and make available the key informative content of major internal and external committee meetings, working group conferences, seminars and meetings.

Meetings, seminars and the sharing of best practice:

• Hold an Annual General Meeting, wherever possible concurrent to an annual conference or other major meeting.
• Facilitate an annual national tourism conference for destination-based tourism interests.
• Facilitate annual and/or occasional discipline, product or issue specific seminars, as the membership or individual sector interests within it require.
• Facilitate timely meetings on crisis issues when and wherever necessary.
• Hold no less than three other governance and major issue based meetings, per year, circulating detailed minutes to all representatives, including to those not invited or unable to attend (see governance and committee structures).
  

Membership Benefits:

• Free circulation of and timely access to details of tourism job vacancies.
• Reciprocal discounts on strategic partners’ events and services.
• Access to low cost central London accommodation to all accredited employees of member organisations.
• Low cost consultancy.
• Access to a range of good value central London meeting rooms and conference facilities.
• Other selected, added value or discounted commercial or non commercial services offered to the membership by third parties via British Destinations