Tourism Development Fund: Grant Approval to Jersey Literary Festival Association in relation to Jersey Festival of Words

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A decision made 14 August 2015:

Decision Reference: MD-E-2015-0068
Decision Summary Title :	Tourism Development Fund – approval of £39,936 grant to the Jersey Literary Festival Association to assist with the funding of off-Island marketing for the Jersey Festival of Words		Date of Decision Summary:	07 August 2015
Decision Summary Author:	Assistant Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	N/A
Written Report Title :	Tourism Development Fund – approval of £39,936 grant to the Jersey Literary Festival Association to assist with the funding of off-Island marketing for the Jersey Festival of Words		Date of Written Report:	07 August 2015
Written Report Author:	Assistant Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Tourism Development Fund – approval of a £39,936 grant to the Jersey Literary Festival Association to assist with the funding of off-Island marketing for the Jersey Festival of Words.
Decision(s): The Minister approved the award of a grant, subject to contract and conditions, from the Tourism Development Fund of £39,936 to the Jersey Literary Festival Association to assist with the funding of off-Island marketing for the Jersey Festival of Words.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Tourism Development Fund Advisory Panel is comprised of members drawn from the private sector who are charged with making recommendations with regard to awarding grants from the Fund. The original application for the Jersey Literary Festival Association was presented to the Panel as part of the 2015 Spring round of applications and was rejected on the basis that there were concerns over the level of finance sought and how the balance of funding was to be sourced. The Jersey Literary Festival Association appealed the Panel’s decision to the Minister, and following a period of analysis and discussions and the provision of an updated festival plan, on the recommendation of Officers, the Minister decided to uphold the appeal and approve funding of a reduced amount of up to £39,936 to support the off-Island marketing efforts for the Jersey Festival of Words, subject to certain conditions being met and the adherence to a grant agreement.
Resource Implications: The grant is made from the Tourism Development Fund, which has sufficient resources to cover the grant. There are no further manpower or resource implications.
Action required: The Minister instructs the Strategic Development Officer to issue the contract on the basis of any conditions and in accordance with the Financial Direction on Grants (5.5).
Signature: Senator L J Farnham		Position: Minister for Economic Development
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Tourism Development Fund: Grant Approval to Jersey Literary Festival Association in relation to Jersey Festival of Words

Jersey Literary Festival Association – Jersey Festival of Words

Report

Background

The Jersey Literary Festival Association (JLFA) submitted an application to the Tourism Development Fund (TDF) during its Spring round in March 2015.

The TDF Panel which is made up of volunteers from the private sector considered the application during their meeting on the 24th April and rejected it on the following basis:

“The application was considered wherein concerns were raised as to the level of finance sought and the lack of detail as to how the Jersey Literary Festival Association proposed to source the outstanding balance. In addition, members queried whether the proposal was supported by other cultural groups in Jersey.

Given the foregoing and given the large amount of funding sought, the Panel refused the Jersey Literary Festival Association’s request for funds of £96,750. The Strategic Development Officer was requested to advise the applicant accordingly.”[1]

The JLFA appealed the Panel’s decision to the Minister [2] on the 7th May whereby the Minister instructed Officers to review the application, meet with the Association’s representatives and assess the viability of the Jersey Festival of Words.

Review

Officers reviewed the JLFA’s application and funding requirements and following meetings with JLFA representatives, recommended that sponsoring an event of this nature was in keeping with the Department’s remit and that with the right support and the development of a comprehensive marketing strategy could become a highly successful and sustainable event within Jersey’s tourism calendar, with the potential to increase visitor numbers significantly in the ‘shoulder’ months.

In terms of tourism, the TDF Scheme sets out guidelines in order that applications can be assessed for suitability against a number of tourism specific criteria which include whether the project will:

Help develop Jersey into a year-round tourism destination
Increase the value generated from visitors
Increase the number of locals employed in the tourism sector
Maximise the investment made in tourism

The Jersey Festival of Words achieves many of these criteria as follows:

The event has been scheduled to occur in between 30th September and 4th October which is very much the ‘shoulder months’ and is not weather dependent.
The profile of the typical literary festival audience is 25 – 64, educated to degree and post-graduate level, readers of the Times, Telegraph & Guardian – affluent tourists who will enjoy travel and cultural offerings.
Through hosting the event in late September and early October the Festival of Words will be helping to extend the main tourist season and thereby increasing the propensity of the industry to employ more locals for longer.
The Festival of Words will dovetail with other fixtures in Jersey’s event calendar including ‘Tennerfest’ and the Jersey Marathon thus enhancing the existing tourism product and the strategy to develop the Island’s festival and events scene.

Off-Island Marketing Strategy

Following discussions the JLFA produced a revised marketing strategy which is detailed below:

	Off-Island marketing strategy and campaign delivery
Background	The inaugural Jersey Festival of Words is taking place from Wednesday 30th September to Sunday 4th October 2015. Who are we targeting? In the absence of research data for the UK audiences, we have sourced insights from the Audience Research and Economic Impact Study of the Baltimore Book Festival which indicates that the typical audience attracted to a literary festival is between 25 – 64 years old, with a median age of 42. The majority of attendees attend in pairs or groups of three or more, and it is expected that most of these attendees will attend with friends or relatives; some may attend with social clubs such as Book Clubs. Whilst a relatively even mix of male and female attendees is to be expected, it is likely that there will be slightly more female. The attendees are also likely to have above average household incomes, with many owning a post-graduate degree or a four-year college degree. It is expected that the attendees will also enjoy travel and good food, read newspapers such as The Telegraph, Guardian and The Times, and will be affluent tourists who will enjoy the cultural offerings Jersey has to offer. Planning considerations Time is of the essence to secure approval of the grant and implement digital campaigns to attract potential visitors. The lack of a dedicated travel package and/or festival pass may impact attendee figures. A package and a festival pass would make the purchase decision quicker and easier. It also makes it easier for partners (participants, Visit Jersey etc.) to promote. As ticket sales are completed through the Jersey Opera House, JFW will be unable to access the email addresses of attendees. This means that JFW’s email database will be unable to include the list of people who have purchased tickets from the Jersey Opera House, and so will be unable to target them for next year’s event. This will make building a solid email database more challenging.
Strategy	Due to the short lead time, the campaign will focus on digital promotions. These can be implemented quickly, generate effective results in a short timeframe and be highly targeted. As part of the strategy we will also look to partner with Visit Jersey and CI Travel Group, the authors attending, any on-Island businesses and sponsors that are involved in the festival (e.g. Durrell, State Street and the Jersey Opera House). This will allow us to tap into their existing networks to reach a wider audience of potential attendees to target. The strategy will aim to create a solid foundation for the festival in 2015 and beyond. By building up the database and generating noise around the event, it will make it easier to begin building the festival as a must-visit Jersey attraction in 2016 and beyond.
Objectives (note - not SMART objectives as we need to discuss what will be measurable and measured).	To generate ‘noise’ in the run up to, and during, the event off-Island; Through tailored content, establish the unique credentials and credibility of the Jersey event to encourage potential visitors to choose this festival over the 350 others that take place each year in the UK; Increase the number of visitor attendees; Reach the networks of event partners and participants to amplify the ‘noise’ being made and maximise awareness.
Why Jersey?	In order to be able to effectively target off-Island visitors, we need a thorough understanding of what makes the Jersey Festival of Words stand out from the mainland literary festivals. Attendees have the chance to enjoy an inspiring and entertaining cultural event against the backdrop of the Island of Jersey; Great food, great hotels and great hospitality; Distinctive character, culture and heritage; Rich in a unique history, which attendees can discover when on-Island, as well as attending related events; Within easy reach of the UK (no Channel Tunnel!); 70th anniversary of the Liberation, with these themes running through the final day of the event; Events held in various cultural sites around the Island, rather than in one place like most mainland festivals; Temperate climate, offering a great mix of festival and holiday destination.
Proposed Tactics	Pre-event promotion - Convert website to Wordpress Converting the existing website to Wordpress will allow for greater flexibility. This will include social sharing, newsletter sign up and a blog, where content can be added during the event. The website will need to be updated so that when users are sent to the website through the campaign it continues to influence them to make a ticket purchase. Google Analytics will also be set up on the site - Engage partners Engage partners of the festival in order to maximise ’noise’ to their networks in the run up to and during the event e.g. Visit Jersey, Durrell, the authors. This would include meeting and discussing their involvement and providing them with content to help the event promotion. With Visit Jersey this will include PR and email marketing partner initiatives. - Content curation/crafting content pre event Content in the lead up to the event will need to be created. This would include updating any existing website copy, as well as crafting content to provide to partners where needed. - Social media management Providing assistance over the management of the social media accounts in order to improve the content being posted and engagement with partners and attendees. A hashtag for Twitter will need to be created and this needs to be widely promoted amongst festival-goers. - PPC and paid social advertising A PPC campaign will be created to target UK residents (particularly those located near regional departure airports servicing Jersey) who are interested in literary festivals and events in Jersey. They will be directed to the website and encouraged to attend. Social advertising on Facebook and Twitter will also be used in order to promote the individual social accounts to continue to generate interest surrounding the event. - On-Island plans Review of promotional material - flyer printing costs, banners and brochure to ensure maximise return on spend. - Visit Jersey promo Work with VJ to create a newsletter promo to be sent to their existing database and target the typical audience to encourage attendees (this has been discussed with VJ and we are awaiting confirmation that a dedicated e-newsletter will be possible). During event Content promotion: Festival correspondents will attend different events each day of the festival to write about what’s happening and engaging/interviewing the authors, as well as taking photos. This will then be posted onto the website and promoted through the various social media channels. Round-up video A two minute round-up video will be created that captures the essence of the 2015 festival. This will then be used to help promote next year’s event. The video can also be supplied to partners for their use, to Visit Jersey for external promotion, for funding and sponsorship proposals. PR In partnership with Visit Jersey, seek to attract and host relevant journalists/bloggers for the event. This will help to generate coverage during and after the event, to provide credibility for the event for future promotions. This is estimated at allocation of administration, travel and accommodation for three visiting personnel.
Branding requirements	Work to develop the existing brand for 2015 and 2016.
Timing	To begin immediately and continue until the video is signed off - anticipated delivery of video would be by Wednesday 7th October to enable promotion in the week after the event.

Recommendation

Following discussions with representatives of the JLFA and a review of the TDF application, Officers recommend that subject to conditions and contract, the Minister sanction a grant of up to £39,936 in order to implement an off-Island Marketing Campaign which is intended to facilitate the development of a successful Jersey Festival of Words for 2015, and lay the foundations for a significant sustainable event in the Jersey calendar for 2016 and beyond.

[1] http://jersey.com/business/TDF%20Minutes/TDF-Meeting-Minutes-24-April-2015.pdf

[2] Under section 10 of the Tourism Development Fund Scheme