SMEs Complete Council Development Programme

A number of SMEs from the city's tourism sector have completed a special development programme organised by Belfast City Council.

The Tourism Development Programme - part of council's Destination Belfast suite of support for the sector – focuses on helping smaller tourism providers increase their sales and marketing activities and also assist local businesses make the most of forthcoming city events.

The programme, which is in its first year has helped participating companies develop new product, increase sales, deliver best in class experiences and maximise on the opportunities provided by future events and initiatives, both in Belfast and in the rest of Northern Ireland as a whole.

A total of 15 companies, ranging from accommodation providers to attractions and activity providers completed the first phase of the programme.

One of these was Ravenhill Guest House, run by Olive Nicholson. Olive applied to the programme as she has recently secured four-star status and wanted to drive her business forward. She felt she really needed sales and marketing support. As a result of her mentoring, she now has a strategic sales and marketing plan, which will keep her focused in her approach to sales and marketing.

"It was beneficial to get to know a lot of the other providers in the city, as it helped raise the profile of the business, and it has highlighted opportunities for us to work together. The 'Meet The Buyer' event, in particular was great, as it was a chance to network with buyers and gave me the right contacts to try and secure sales," commented Olive.

Another company which benefited from the first phase of the programme was Big Occasions. Owned and operated by Carroll and Chad Falls, the company specializes in high end bespoke outside catering solutions, operating two mobile kitchens which can provide catering for gala banquets, weddings and also catering at events.

"We had relied heavily on word of mouth to promote and grow the business, and wanted to use the programme to develop a clear sales and marketing plan," Chad commented.

"The programme has helped me develop a plan, and has also helped me develop internal systems to keep the momentum from the programme going. It has also given me time to drive the business forward, and we are starting to see the results of this now, as a result of which I have undertaken a number of sales meetings that have secured in business at a number of key events this year, including the Fleadh Cheoil in Derry~Londonderry in August."

The programme included a business health check and 'mystery shop', which set the scene for a lot of the activities and identified the focus for each business; interactive sales and marketing workshops, which challenged the participants' thinking and current practices in areas such as sales development, packaging and presenting their product and innovative marketing techniques; a two-day certified World Host Customer Service and Ambassador; a best practice visit to the 'City of Culture', to meet with tourism champions and organisers of the Fleadh Cheoil; one-on-one mentoring, which focused on increasing their sales and ensuring that they look at opportunities in events-based tourism, such as the forthcoming World Police and Fire Games and Giro d'Italia; and a 'Meet The Buyer' event with key buyers and industry stakeholders, which resulted in more than 120 meetings being arranged.

(CD/MH)