12 C O N T E X T 9 9 : M A Y 2 0 0 7 in the context of the local economy, especially since one in three jobs related to tourism. There needed to be a balance between community, tourism and the environment. Visitors wanted interactive, high-quality environments, not glasscase museums. It was important to get the welcome right, so Chester station had to be a gateway. The public relations and the infrastructure (including public WCs) had to be right too. David Geddes of Locum Consulting talked about understanding visitor behaviour. He cited findings from the north west visitor survey. Visitors tended to look for a range of attractions rather than a single one. Education was not a high priority to the visitor, whereas entertainment was. Geddes referred his audience to the Ark Leisure Segmentation model. This was a tool for identifying different categories of visitors, including ‘cosmopolitans’, ‘style hounds’ and ‘traditionals’, to name three. Different destinations appealed to different visitor types. This had implications when it came to reinventing town centres. Geddes discussed how Stockport could move away from simply providing 1970/80s shopping malls by targeting the Under Banks area, for example, with its old town ambience. Southport had become a down-market bucketand-spade place. It needed to focus on Lord Street if it was going to go back up market. John Hinchliffe of Liverpool City Council talked about the city’s world heritage site. The statement of significance identified Liverpool’s historical and intangible themes, and its urban landscape. Visitors came for both aspects, Hinchliffe said. The world heritage site management plan emphasised that visitor management issues forged an identity for the city. An integrated visitor management strategy was in place. The world heritage site was a key theme in strategic tourism documents as it would continue beyond the city’s year as the European Capital of Culture in 2008. Pat Hansell of Blackpool Council explained how the resort had previously focused on making money rather than heritage. Although Blackpool is the second most popular destination, according to the north west visitor survey, the town has serious problems. These include unemployment, transients, and educational underachievement: hence the need for the regeneration company and the master plan. Hansell noted that the recentlylaunched heritage strategy focused on ‘the people of Blackpool’. The town was preparing a world heritage bid, focusing on the resort’s importance in the industrial revolution as an ‘industrial landscape of the seaside’. The town had a unique heritage of leisure architecture and technical innovation. The regeneration plans for Blackpool were based on much more than just a super casino, she said. Sara Burdett of the National Trust talked about access to historic sites. There was an educational theme at the trust’s sites, although the aim was increasing awareness, not formal education. Burdett focused on the Chambré Hardman Centre at the former home of Liverpool photographer Edward Chambré Hardman in Rodney Street, Liverpool, with its photographic studios and photographic archive. Burdett cited the National Trust slogan: ‘Forever for everyone’. Photographs fitted in with this theme. The presentation highlighted the conflict between making the photographic archive accessible and preserving the delicate heritage asset. After a series of the tours, Karl Creaser of English Heritage talked about the contribution of local heritage. Major sites and landmark buildings might be of national importance, but local buildings provided local identity. Creaser took his audience on a whistle-stop tour across the north-west region, where a range of initiatives were engaging people and strengthening communities. Creaser said that the Hidden Britain scheme had generated billions of pounds in tourism for the north west. He also cited two examples of heritage-led regeneration. The high street (shop front) project in Lytham St Annes had seen vacancy rates drop from 30 per cent to three per cent. A regeneration scheme in Ulverston had seen house prices rise by 15 per cent. Local heritage was important for locals, but visitors and residents valued local distinctiveness. Difference was marked more often by many small buildings and by local stories, than by large buildings. Andrew Backhouse of Culture NorthWest. Backhouse talked about making connections. There were plenty of projects and a great deal of silo thinking, he said, but good practice could be shared through networking. He cited Carlisle Castle, which was cut off from the town by a dual carriageway, and Clitheroe, where a one-way street ran away from the castle rather than towards it. Backhouse advocated making connections both in a physical sense and in terms of linking, and relating to regional strategy. It was important for people working on local projects to see the bigger picture, he said. In discussion the need for a quality environment, rather than just heritage attractions, was emphasised. Infrastructure was important:WCs, shops, cafes and restaurants, as well as transport, such as like shuttle buses. The conference underlined the point that the conservation community needed to be proactive, rather than reactive. Heritage has an important role to play in regeneration and the local economy, and heritage tourism is a key to that. Keith Parsons, principal lecturer in the department of built environment, University of Central Lancashire Waterloo Pavilions, Blackburn, a recent regeneration scheme within the cathedral close at Blackburn
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