With the second round of OxLEP’s visitor economy grant scheme due to launch on 16 August, we look back on our first round of grants – announced at the beginning of this year – and further understand the real difference the investment is making across one of Oxfordshire’s key sectors.
Wake up to Woodstock is a not-for-profit business association who have won multiple awards for their dedication to enhancing the visitor experience in Woodstock. Its committee is made up of passionate volunteers, business owners and partners – this includes several, stand-out Woodstock businesses and experiences, including Blenheim Palace and Wake up to Woodstock’s founding member The Bear Hotel.
All members are committed to encouraging footfall and boosting the nearby visitor economy through promoting collaboration, co-operation and a shared set of goals across its members.
Like many businesses and groups operating within the visitor economy, Wake up to Woodstock face challenges and indeed, also seeks out opportunities. Its top priority is an aim to bring all relevant businesses in the area on board with their work, giving the organisation a better chance to secure funding and promote Woodstock to potential visitors.
To achieve this goal, Wake up to Woodstock aims to develop a comprehensive directory of all businesses in the area. By featuring all businesses on such a digital platform, Wake up to Woodstock can help secure further funding enabling the organisation to further promote the town and attract more visitors to the area from home and abroad.
So – where did our visitor economy grant come in?
Through funding provided via our visitor economy grant scheme, Wake up to Woodstock utilised expert travel and tourism consultancy services to refine its website, making it more suitable for its ambitions to promote Woodstock visitor economy offer more widely.
The grant has further enabled the organisation to make full-use of the latest digital trends and technologies ensuring its members can – in turn – remain competitive in the visitor economy marketplace.
What’s next?
Moving forward and boosted by our support, Wake up to Woodstock are focused on attracting new businesses to its platform. They want to encourage and deliver an effortless experience for visitors to find what they need and discover new things.
Through an increased digital presence, it also hopes to introduce paid advertising to members and non-members, generating additional revenue which will create even more activity and exposure for Woodstock’s visitor economy offer.
How can my visitor economy business access similar OxLEP funding?
OxLEP Business will be reopening it visitor economy grant scheme on 16 August.
Businesses who are interested in accessing the scheme are being encouraged to sign-up to an OxLEP Business webinar – to take place on the same day – which will highlight just who it is for, who can access the scheme and what outcomes businesses are expected to generate from their grants.
Pre-registration will be required for the scheme, which can be completed between 16 and 30 August. Only the first £700,000-worth of applications will initially be invited to apply.
We will continue to accept registrations up until the 30 August, which will be held on a waiting list. However, people with a declared disability that affects the time it will take to complete the registration form will have until 30 August to register.
Grants of between £10,000 and £15,000 are set to be available per successful business during this round of funding.
The grant scheme is part of OxLEP’s £1.64million Visitor Economy Renaissance Programme, funding for which was secured by OxLEP via the government’s Contain Outbreak Management Fund.
