The new £1.6 million Country Sports South West project is now underway and rural businesses are being invited to make contact with the development team to find out how the project could add value to their business.
The Country Sports development team aims to help South West rural businesses which offer country sporting activities with marketing and delivery of a quality product. The team can also advise people who want to explore the opportunities of starting a country sporting enterprise; whether in sporting shooting, fishing, equine or hospitality. This will involve working with farms and accommodation-providers around the region, offering practical advice and assistance on business development, identifying new business opportunities, offering training information and networking opportunities and advising how to link up with the Country Sports South West consumer campaign.
Country Sports South West is an initial three year project to ensure that the South West region, which is renowned for its unique landscape and countryside, becomes the premier tourism destination for country sports and celebrated for its local game and fish. The new project also aims to improve the visitor experience and participation in country sports while creating sustainable rural tourism businesses which can respond to the future challenges and exploit new opportunities.
Annette Cole, senior country sports manager, said: “Many South West rural businesses are now looking for advice about how to diversify into the tourism and country sports sector and add value to their businesses. This exciting and unique regional project appeals directly to these businesses and will ultimately help to drive up quality throughout the sector so that the South West becomes the number one country sport destination for visitors. The website will be an added bonus for businesses as they will be able to reach a new country sport consumer market. We would like to hear from any South West rural businesses which currently offer shooting, equine, or freshwater fishing opportunities and are looking for advice in terms of developing their product, or from those who are keen to hear about our marketing opportunities.”
Key statistics reveal how important the country sports economy is, especially for the South West: Shooting alone is worth £1.6 billion per year to the UK economy and the economic contribution of sporting shooting for the South West is worth £270m (2006 research). The economic activity generated by angling in England and Wales (based on 2009 research) is estimated to be worth about a billion pounds. For the South West, anglers’ annual expenditure on fishing inland waters totalled approximately £100 million.
A consumer marketing and PR programme will launch in spring 2011 and will focus on the various country sports and activities available around the South West. This will also include attendance at key farming and consumer shows and arranging consumer taster days. In addition, a website aimed at first time and existing country sport visitors will launch in spring 2011.
This project is part of the Rural Development Programme for England project (RDPE) (jointly funded by the EU and Defra) in partnership with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) and The Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT).
South West rural businesses are being invited to make contact with the Country Sport Development Team, where they can receive expert advice about the country sports tourism industry, receive specific business development advice and find out more about the various marketing opportunities associated with the project.
Contact: Annette Cole, senior country sports manager, by emailing annette.cole@0ld.basc.org.uk, phoning 01823 480938 or visiting www.countrysportssouthwest.co.uk
ENDS
For media information contact: Liz Dale, country sports marketing officer on:
07585 967452 or email liz.dale@0ld.basc.org.uk
Notes to editors:
Shooting research source: PACEC Report 2006
In the UK today:
• Shooting is worth £1.6 billion to the UK economy.
• Shooting supports the equivalent of 70,000 full-time jobs
• Shoot providers spend £250 million a year on conservation
• 480,000 people shoot live quarry
• Shooters spend £2 billion each year on goods and services
Fishing research source: 2009 Environment Agency’s economic evaluation of inland fisheries
• Of 2.7 million days fished on inland waters in the South West in 2005, 81 per
cent were spent coarse fishing.
• Half a million days were spent game fishing, mostly for trout on still waters.
• There were 87,801 licence holders resident in the South West in 2005 but
visiting anglers accounted for a quarter of all the days fished and of the
economic activity generated.
• Anglers’ annual expenditure on fishing inland waters in the South West totalled about £100 million, supporting approximately 2,300 jobs and £50 million of household income.
• Visiting anglers came mainly from the South East, London and the West
• Average trip expenditure recorded for visiting salmon and sea trout anglers was very high: £175/day, compared to £40 for visitors who fished for trout and £36 for coarse fish.
The Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT)
WRT is an environmental charity (Charity No: 1045806) established in 1995 to secure the preservation, protection, development and improvement of the rivers, streams, watercourses and water impoundments in the Westcountry and to advance the education of the public in the management of water.
A cornerstone of our philosophy is working in partnership with external individuals and organisations to share expertise and facilitate better information transfer. By collaborating with a whole range of stakeholders – ranging from individual businesses through to academic institutions, Non Governmental Organisations and Government departments – the trust aims to circumvent sectoral interests and encourages joint solutions to the complex environmental problems our society currently faces.
www.wrt.org.uk
Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE).
This project is part financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2007-2013: Europe investing in rural areas. In England, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2007-2013 is delivered through the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). It is an important part of the Common Agricultural Policy and helps create genuinely sustainable farming, forestry and food sectors, while bringing wider benefits for the economy, the environment and rural communities. It is the European Union’s major investment route for protecting and enhancing the environment while securing a range of public benefits for society. Defra is the managing authority and is delivered in the region by the South West RDA, Natural England and the Forestry Commission.
For more information, see: www.sw-ruralgateway.info