Island Life Magazine Ltd February / March 2016 | Page 18

INTERVIEW

Tough times
for tourism
We talk to David Thornton about his vision of the Isle of Wight

T

he shock withdrawal of
promised Council funding for
tourism has left the Island’s
most important industry hanging on
a knife-edge – so it’s no wonder that
there is widespread rumour, anger,
anxiety and some dark speculation,
over what happens next.

Attempting to steer a course through
these choppy waters is David Thornton,
Chief Executive of Visit Isle of Wight Ltd. the
private sector-led Destination Marketing
Organisation (DMO) that now faces a
£300,000 a year shortfall in its basic funding.
Fully aware that his own job, and those of
many others in Island tourism, may be on the
line, David tells Island Life how he thinks this
critical situation can still be turned around.
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www.visitilife.com

He’s just completed a consultation
of 300 Island businesses, and now
David is preparing for more meetings
and consultations in March and April.
One of the aims is to find out if there’s
enough support for a plan to impose
a new levy on businesses that will help
fill the shortfall left by the Council, and
continue funding Visit Isle of Wight Ltd.
Whilst the levy would be relatively
small - £120 per year on each £10,000
of rateable value – the suggestion
has caused controversy and
misunderstanding.
To set the record straight, David
insists that nothing is written in stone –
the DBID is all still up for discussion.
With two levels of consultation still
to come, there will be a postal ballot
of businesses and the plan will not go
through unless the ‘yes’ votes poll at
least 51% - and those voters’ rateable
values will also have to total more than
51%, to ensure an adequate mix of
small and large businesses.
If the plan goes through, the ‘yes’
voters all become shareholders in
the business and will then be able to
contribute to the hammering out of a
new governance plan.
So – a lengthy and uncertain process
still lies ahead, and as David admits:
“It’s painful and it’s frightening, and
to get people to work together will be
very complicated - but I reckon I’ve got
as good a chance as anybody.
“It feels like I’m on the front line
of some great manoeuvre, but the
fact is that we have to find a way of

commercialising the business, and
evolve into something else”.

Business as usual
While all this is fermenting in the
background, it’s very much business as
usual for David and three staff at the
free-rent office of Visit Isle of Wight – a
previously unused space on the top
floor of Newport’s Guildhall.
Contrary to speculation that they’re
spending the remaining budget trying
to preserve their own jobs, David
says starkly: “Visit Isle of Wight as an
organisation will run out of funds by
Christmas.