Summer Food Festival - 9th - 11th August 2011

Summer Food Festival

MARCHE, in partnership with The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are thrilled to be launching a very new and exciting Summer Food Festival for the Midlands.

To be held at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens from 9th - 11th of August 2011

Priority booking is currently available to MARCHE members giving YOU a fabulous opportunity to showcase bars or restaurants or take part in the Producers Village.

This brand new Festival in a unique setting is aimed at two distinct markets : :

Daytime - Families

• Giving families a special day out
• A chance for kids to find out about where and how some of their favourite ingredients are grown
• A chance to sample & purchase local produce in the Producers Village
• A range of fun food and drink related activities
• Opportunities for the grown ups too - to taste regional beers, wines & ciders

Evening - After Work Relaxation

• Live music
• Regional beers, wines & ciders to try & buy
• A chance to sample & purchase local produce in the Producers Village
• A chance to have an evening meal of speciality sample meals available from local restaurants
• Demonstrations by some of the regions top chefs

And finally - the beauty of the whole event ...

We are NOT at the mercy of the Great British Weather - the various activities can be under cover or outside!

HOORAY!!!

So, if you are interested in taking part, please contact 

the Festival Office by email (click the link) or on 0333 123 0248

Or

The MARCHE Office by email (click the link)

or on 0121 440 1892

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Tourism Statistics

The British Hospitality Association has recently published the latest tourism statistics and here they are for your info : : 


29.6 million inbound tourists to the UK
(Down 1%)


£16.7 billion spent in the UK by inbound visitors
(Up 1%)


55 million outbound British tourists heading elsewhere
(Down 5%)


£30.8 billion spent by outbound British tourists
(Down 1%)




And VisitEngland have a lot to say on the subject of the "Economic Downturn" and have recently published the results on their study The Staycation: 2011 & Beyond ~ it's not an Urban Myth ~ the Staycationers drove an uplift in holidays taken in England during 2009 and 2010 and it looks set to continue for 2011 and beyond!


The conclusions derived from the VisitEngland study are as follows : :
(these are taken directly from the VisitEngland Study)


Pessimism about the economy  and about consumers personal financial situation has increased in the last 6 months and the degree to which this is realised is bound to impact behaviour in 2011


The Staycation continued in 2010 with 2 in 10 consumers taking a break in England who would otherwise have been abroad.  This is mainly due to financial reasons but also because of the positive appeal of taking an "England" break (yippee the marketing is working!)


2011 holidays are likely to be similar to 2010


Once through the recession, people expect to start taking trips abroad again, but that is unlikely to be at the expense of an England holiday which are also expected to increase.  It is the 4 - 7 night trips that are going to be the key battleground.


18 - 34 year olds and families in particular are likely to keep taking their hols in England and (this is the great bit) their reasons for doing so are to explore new places and have hassle-free holidays so the VisitEngland message is to tap into this market with communications to convert intent to action, but remember "value perceptions" are still a challenge.

For more details on this information, do have a look at the VisitEngland Study

Red Tape Challenge - What did you say?

Red Tape Challenge

Well it looks like we have a bit more time to comment on the Cabinet Office's Red Tape Challenge website, as the deadline has been extended up to the 2nd June - there must be a lot to say about red tape in the Hospitality Sector and here at MARCHE we hope that you are taking the opportunity to make your voices heard!

Some MARCHE members have shared with us the subjects they are commenting on and here are just a couple of them.

CCTV Cameras

Specifically the amounts you have to pay to the Information Commissioners Office if you have CCTV cameras on your premises

Birmingham City Council's Massage & Special Treatments License

Applications forms and fees in addition to National requirements

So is there anything you've commented on which you would like to share?  Feel free to let us know by commenting in the "Comments" section at the end of this post if there is!

Red Tape Challenge - Have Your Say

www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

So ... MARCHE members - the time is NOW to have YOUR say about nonsensical Government RED TAPE that fills your in-trays and covers your desks and consumes your working day.

Please check out this website, have a good rummage around on it - there are lots of topics which are open for discussion - and then join the debate!  Add your comments to the topics you feel most passionately about and want to see changed and lets see what happens.

We all like to comment and (let's be honest) have a good moan about all these sorts of things and so now is the chance to actually make our voices heard, make some suggestions from the "shop floor" on what will work better for our industry and then at least no one can say we haven't tried.

Bank of England Report Questionnaire

We hope that a representative from all our member venues received a questionnaire by email on Thursday 5th May, containing a few questions from the Bank of England.


Please complete and return this as soon as possible to Hilary - no later than Monday 9th May.


This is your opportunity to have your say and make a difference and your input is really helpful and gratefully received and passed on.


We are looking forward to hearing from you!