Policy, Intelligence, Evaluation and Sustainability
Our Policy, Intelligence, Evaluation and Sustainability (PIES) team works with a range of tourism and hospitality organisations and public sector partners to provide:
Key strategic visitor economic intelligence covers the inbound and domestic visitor landscape on the national, regional and local level, to inform the West Midlands Growth Company and key stakeholders, including the West Midlands Combined Authority, its constituent local authorities, the region’s universities, and private sector commercial partners in areas such as:
- Identifying local, regional, national and global market potential and growth opportunities
- Understanding the needs, motivations, and behaviours within these markets
- Highlighting the region’s strengths and unique selling points in the marketplace
Insights and intelligence to support tourism business, providing narrative and evidence for:
- Value propositions
- Marketing collateral
- Sales messages
- Communications strategy
Data and analysis to evaluate performance and impact:
- Tracking performance against funding targets
- Demonstrating the impacts of our activities on the stakeholders’ strategic aims and wider regional visitor economy
Explore the most recent market insights on region’s visitor economy:
2023 West Midlands Regional Visitor Survey
The visitor surveys provide key intelligence that helps decision makers to understand the profile, experience, and behaviour of visitors to the West Midlands region. The findings from the survey inform regional and local visitor economy strategy and destination management plans.
2024 West Midlands Annual Economic Impact Assessment STEAM
This annual assessment tracks visitor numbers and the value of the visitor economy throughout the year, widely known as “STEAM”, the model was developed by the Global Tourism Solutions. STEAM is a tourism economic impact modelling process which approaches the measurement of tourism from the bottom up, through its use of local supply side data and tourism performance and visitor survey data collection.
It provides vital insights for us and partners to understand long-term trends and support strategic planning and policy making. The PIES team has been working collaboratively with partners across the region to generate baseline data to feed into the model. Destination level analysis is available for some of the local authority areas including Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, and Wolverhampton. Outputs from the study have been used to inform local and regional tourism strategies, support local businesses, lobbying, monitor sector performance, evaluate impacts of festivals and events.
2023 Perceptions study
This study aims to track key perception metrics related to the West Midlands as an investment, business, and tourism destination. It measures awareness/familiarity, sentiment and consideration. The key audiences were domestic and international visitors, and intermediaries influencing investment decisions, including investment advisors, business conference and sporting event organisers, and travel trade professionals, aligned with the region’s internationalisation strategy. The findings provide insights into the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the region’s offer, provide guidance on marketing strategies, shaping key messages, and determining the most effective communication channels.
2022 MICE market impact analysis
The business tourism sector is a major contributor to West Midlands’ regional economy. The purpose of this project was to assess the economic impact of this important sector in the West Midlands Combined Authority geography.
Key findings
- The West Midlands hosted four-fifth (78%) of the number of conferences and meetings held pre-pandemic, compared with 73% in the rest of the UK
- The region welcomed 8.3 million delegate visits in 2022, contributing £1.9 billion to the regional economy
- Meeting industry in the West Midlands currently supports 43,000 full-time equivalent jobs
For further details, please contact shannon.chu@wmgrowth.com