Agenda item

To receive the report of the Executive Director, Innovation and Growth

(presentation in separate pack)

Members received a presentation providing an overview of the Destination City programme. The main points covered in the presentation were as follows:

-       A recap of the Destination City programme, its purpose and vision;

-       An overview of the core Destination City priority programmes;

-       The core Destination City marketing and events calendar;

-       Priority audience segments; and

-       The adjacent Destination City workstreams, delivered across the Corporation.

Members congratulated Destination City (DC) on the presentation and made the following points:

-       There is benefit in further information on how targets were expected to be met

-       Details of the steering group’s membership would be welcome

-       More information on the extent to which the plan aligns with City of London (CoL) core objectives would be helpful

-       It is important to provide advance notice of events (for key stakeholders including CoL tour guides, Guildhall Art Gallery, students, and small businesses)

-       There is merit in utilising the CoL Common Council to nurture brand partnerships

-       There are further opportunities to reach out to the wider public via election communication material

-       It is important to mesh cultural strategy and DC activity, ensuring that culture underpins all activity

-       There are further opportunities to streamline strategy communications with corporate partners and City BIDs

-       Proactive engagement with City of London Police, residents, business, BIDs, educational institutions and embassies (including for unique events such as the Lord Mayor’s Show) is vital

-       Some of the targets and spend given appeared to be low

The meeting heard that a meta-model and business intelligence dashboard could be shared with the Committee, together with supporting strategies, and that stakeholder involvement and consistency with CoL objectives was core to DC’s strategy with further detailed information on those strategies to be submitted to future Committees. The meeting heard that DC liaised closely with City of London Police, and that further opportunities to interact with CoL membership, corporate partners, and electoral services were being explored, noting the opportunities and challenges of involving brand partners and noting also the recent City BID strategy meetings and planned resident surveys.  The meeting heard that many baseline assumptions and figures in respect of targets were pre-pandemic, and that part of DC’s remit was to grow audience and engagement following pandemic disruption.

In response to a question around timelines for further information, the meeting heard that DC was feeding into the CoL communications team strategy and that the timeline was subject to that schedule.   

More detailed information on the steering group’s membership was to be shared in a private session for confidentiality reasons.