Bid to lure Olympics visitors to Colchester (From Gazette)

Bid to lure Olympics visitors to Colchester

3:00pm Monday 12th December 2011 in News By Wendy Brading

TOURISM promoters are launching a new push to persuade visitors in London for the Olympics to visit to Colchester, too.

Bill Hayton, chairman of tourism group, Destination Colchester, is pushing for more, in particular, to be made of the town’s Roman heritage.

He is also keen to attract more better-off tourists who have money to spend in the town.

Mr Hayton said studies had suggested Colchester was one of the country’s best-kept tourist secrets.

He explained: “The study compared the town’s visitor numbers to those for towns including Lincoln, Rochester and Windsor.

“Colchester attracted fewer visitors and those who came were lower-spending ones.

“Only 13 per cent of people who come here are first-time visitors, but is other comparable towns, at least a third are newcomers.”

“All visitors are welcome and important to the town’s economy, but if we could encourage wealthier visitors, it could be worth an extra £40 million a year to Colchester’s economy.”

Mr Hayton said a concerted effort was being made to attract visitors coming to Britain for the Olympics.

He said: “We are a mere 45-minute train ride from the Olympic site, a faster journey than going from Stratford to some parts of London.

“We want to attract those visitors here.”

Mr Hayton said Destination Colchester aimed to capitalise on the town’s Roman heritage, with the Roman wall – the longest Roman wall in the country – perhaps being marketed as “the Hadrian’s Wall of the East”.

Colchester was the Roman capital of Britain and the castle is built on the site of the Roman temple of Claudius. The recently-discovered Roman chariot circus – the only one in the country – was also an asset.

Mr Hayton said 5,000 Roman Colchester leaflets had been printed and would be sent out to schools, heritage sites, stations and Stansted Airport.

He also wants to social networking websites to spread the word about the town.

Colchester Council also promotes local tourism and has a more wide-ranging approach.

Last year, it sent out 80,000 guides and leaflets and 40,000 maps, while the www.visitcol chester.com website had more than five million page views.

l A collection will be taken at the game at Colchester United’s Weston Homes stadium on January 21 to raise money to pay for information boards to be put up on the Roman wall.

The Friends of Colchester’s Roman Wall wants to put up a total of 11 signs along the wall, with the first being at Balkerne Gate.