Cowes Harbour Commission Annual Report 2017-2018 | Page 41

It is CHC policy to maintain, develop and ensure effective promulgation of all statutory duty and regular communications to stakeholders, harbour users, and the media. The year 2017-2018 has seen an increasingly proactive approach to communications planning and outputs with benefi cial results reaped from direct, targeted communications and marketing to assist in achieving CHC Strategic Plan objectives: Twelve press releases were issued with media coverage also gained from E-newsletter articles, radio and magazine interviews. Eighteen E-newsletters were sent out to CHC stakeholders and marine services customers. All CHC E-newsletter databases have been updated to ensure that we are compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the changes to EU data privacy. A survey of CHC annual mooring holders resulted in a good 40% reply rate. The information received will feed into CHC planning for the future provision of harbour moorings and associated facilities. In June 2017 CHC launched a new responsive website and in March 2018 further upgrades were made to refl ect CHC’s rebrand following the Marine Services Review. This work forms part of CHC’s continued investment into the development and promotion of our online presence. Website traffi c has continued to grow steadily over the past 12 months. Website users have risen from 57,000 to 70,000; visits have risen from 88,000 to 115,000, and page views have increased from 223,000 to 247,000 when comparing 2016-17 to the same period in 2017-18. The Harbour Master attended the opening of the Isle of Wight College Centre of Excellence for Composites, Advanced Manufacturing and Marine in September 2017. CHC exhibited at the Royal Yacht Squadron’s second Maritime Careers Fair in September 2017. The Harbour Master, Commissioner Ra Hennessy and Deputy Harbour Master Jon Kidd were given a tour of the Isle of Wight Studio School in February 2018 by Headteacher Richard White. CHC is now a member of the Cowes Business Association (CBA) and hosted a well attended CBA Networking Event in April 2018 at The Sugar Store Events Centre. CHC continues to progress a marketing initiative with Destination Cowes and Visit Isle of Wight to increase cruise ship calls to Cowes, working also with the port agents and shoreside tour operators to promote Cowes as a stopover port for Northern European itineraries. New or renewed interest has been shown by Ponant, Sea Cloud Cruises, Royal Caribbean, The Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, and bookings received from luxury cruise lines Seabourn and Silversea for 2019. The 2018-2019 Cowes Harbour Handbook has been distributed around Cowes and a digital version is on the CHC website: cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/cowes_harbour_handbook The Annual Public Meeting is an opportunity for CHC to report on its work over the past year and key objectives for 2019, and answer questions from attendees. CHC’s 2018 Annual Public Meeting will be held on Thursday, 24 th May in The Sugar Store Events Centre at Shepards Marina, Cowes. Annual Report 2017 - 2018 41