Issue - meetings

Attention was drawn to the slides within the presentation and how the legacy was far-reaching, with more events already being planned for 2013.

Laurie Bell, Director of Communications at Wiltshire Council, gave a presentation looking back at the events of 2012, and referring to the huge number of people who had been involved in Wiltshire. 

Laurie referred to the pictures on the screen and the film which had been shown before the meeting, as a reminder of the Queen’s visit to Salisbury in May, and the Olympic Torch relay, the Olympic Torch evening event at Hudson’s Field along with other iconic moments of the year in Wiltshire.

Estimated figures from the Police showed that these events were attended by a total of 225,000 people; over half the population of the county.  This had generated an additional spend of £1 million on the days in question, with many traders reporting repeat business as a result of those days.  B&Bs and Hotels in the county had reported unprecedented business on those days, and the Visit Wiltshire website had received its biggest ever number of hits during 2012.

The publicity generated by the events had also been huge, with an independent media company valuing the coverage of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee event in Salisbury as £191K, and the Olympic torch relay and Hudson’s Field event at £890K.  In addition, the footage of athlete Michael Johnson carrying the Olympic Torch at Stonehenge had become one of the iconic images of the games, being used on the BBC coverage, and the Coca-Cola advert.  The value of this in terms of advertising for tourism in Wiltshire was estimated at £2.7 million.

The cultural and social benefits of the events were also huge, although much harder to quantify, but it was considered important that the legacy of the events should be built on and captured for future years.  A Steering Board had been set up to help generate and promote projects to focus on positive outcomes from the events of 2012.

The Chairman thanked Laurie for the presentation and invited comments and suggestions on what could be done in the city, to ensure a lasting benefit from 2012:

·         City Makers – it was suggested that volunteers could be recruited to welcome tourists to the city, and to offer help, advice and directions.

·         Salisbury through the ages – The City Council was already planning a 1 day event for the summer, to celebrate Salisbury’s history.

·         Salisbury Music Festival – this had been suggested following the success of the Hudson’s Field event

·         Further street parties.

·         Fine Art Trail – it was noted that there was already a heritage trail, and that an Art Trail was being considered for next year.

The view was also expressed that some traders had suffered a drop in business as a result of the events, and that the event on Hudson’s Field had damaged the grass so that it could no longer be used by the rugby club.