Visit Britain a waste of space - official

[charles cawley]

Again, this is a method to avoid responsibility.

A similar method is used in industry by managers wanting to dodge responsibility and by one or two to enable corruption. This, I haste to say is not so in this case.

On a larger scale this explains rewards for failure in the public sector. Two senior managers from the Mid Staffs Hospital were given huge payoffs and one with a knighthood and the other was Damed. (No n in this word).

Smoke screening is not for your benefit or for the benefit of the public... it is for internal use. It is often highly effective.

The important thing is not to get angry over this, rather to see how the system works and then apply pressure in the right area. There are always weak points but they are rarely obvious and are often in very unlikely places.

[Windy]

Well it does make VE look rather more dynamic than they have ever shown any evidence of being Charles

For me it really is the last straw though. I held on to my star rating for 5 years because I believed it might (just) have a value but I refuse to subsidise these idiots any longer.

My sub runs out in April and I shall leave the scheme then. I'll let people who know no better "proudly" display a meaningless symbol from a scheme that isn't policed in any meaningful way and which rewards those who flout its rules.

Some of us try to play by the book, but it obviously isn't the best way to behave if you want to get some free positive publicity.

I wonder if Pam Foden thinks she has done a good job here?

[charles cawley]

The way this particular device works is:

Someone points publicly that an organisation has slipped up.

The person responsible may then decide to reduce the chance of any internal action by publicly allying the organisation to the the organisation or person identified as misusing logos or other possible abuse.

The people who may, otherwise, have acted internally against the person responsible will now have to admit, publicly, that the organisation has become friendly with the wrong sort of person. This will require losing face which is a major anglo saxon no no. It will also draw the attention to the affair by those much more senior who will hold the boss of the person responsible... and they will do anything to avoid this including ignoring the errors, mistakes or other failings of their juniors / those reporting in.

The Scots and Welsh do not suffer so much from loss of face, but in England, it is the source of no end of idiocies.

You see, there is method behind all this. Once you understand what is going on, it becomes easier to work the system, even from the outside.

None of the above applies to well run organisations such as VB as you should be well aware. Understanding organisational politics is useful.. the fact it is not taught in business schools is an utter scandal.

[Windy]

LOL well it seem that the censors at the VE Accommodation Know How forum would prefer their members not to know about this latest development. They haven't allowed my question about whether this is an appropriate way of dealing with people who publish incorrect star ratings to be treated through the moderation filter and it was posted yesterday.

Surprise surprise

[Windy]

Ho hum - bored tonight so I've tried again. I don't suppose this will get through either

I have tried to post on this subject before but the posts have not been allowed through. I am trying again as this is a very important matter as far as the validity of the star rating scheme goes.

In a different thread I talked about a local listing site which was wrongly displaying star ratings. After a great deal of effort on my part I was finally able to get VE to take action. It was not a rewarding experience on many levels.

I was, however, quite disgusted to see that, in the last edition of Quality Edge, VE then gave free publicity to the listing site concerned, making it out that the site and VE were working together rather than the site in question having had its knuckles rapped

"COME TOGETHER
visitengland is pleased to announce a new collaboration with a publisher of three popular regional websites that advertise serviced and self-catering accommodation in the lake district and yorkshire: www etc (3 web addresses given) has carried out a full check of more than 1,000 properties advertised on these sites to confirm their accuracy and will maintain regular contact with the website operator as new businesses sign up or any lapse from our scheme, as we do with www.laterooms.com"

The web site concerned was able to use this fluff to claim:

We are pleased to announce that over the past few weeks ***** have been working closely with VisitEngland.com, amongst other things the VisitEngland quality department has spent time checking that everyone who advertises on any of our website who has a star rating from either VisitEngland or the AA has selected the option and is displaying their rating proudly on the ******* sites. In addition to this VisitEngland.com have also linked through to our websites and even published a short news story in their latest addition of their "Quality edge" magazine, which goes out to over 25,000 homes and business's. We are proud to be working with such a well recognise (sic) and trusted brand and all this extra publicity can only be a good thing for ****** and our customers."

Am I alone in believing that this sends out precisely the wrong message to people who abuse the star rating scheme?

10 to 1 it doesn't get through.

[Windy]

We have also revised the benefits which participants in the quality scheme enjoy, making these much more business-oriented, rather than marketing/listing benefits which are often better delivered at a destination or local level or by the private sector.

VisitEngland will no longer be managing data or the national product database which currently powers the listings for individual businesses and searching capabilities on the VisitEngland and VisitBritain websites. With the development of online resources in recent years these are facilities which we believe are no longer best delivered by a national tourism body. We have therefore withdrawn the benefit which offered your business a free listing on the http://www.enjoyengland.com/ and http://www.visitbritain.com/ websites with effect from April 1, 2012. Instead, VisitEngland will be concentrating its resources on ensuring that the national website carries more engaging imagery and inspiring ideas to encourage and direct web traffic to the destination or local partner website for more detailed information on the local area.

Er I think that means "We have been doing such a great job that Penrose has cut our budget. Unfortunately we don't have enough money to run a web site with your listings on any more, but we will be replacing it with some stock photos of morrismen but don't worry, our jobs are safe for a bit longer."

[kendalcottages]

10 to 1 it doesn't get through.

Just catching up on this thread...

Those sound like generous odds. I'd have thought the chances were even slimmer. ...I take it it didn't?

Er I think that means "We have been doing such a great job that Penrose has cut our budget. Unfortunately we don't have enough money to run a web site with your listings on any more, but we will be replacing it with some stock photos of morrismen but don't worry, our jobs are safe for a bit longer."

(until they discover that just displaying stock images doesn't pay the bills either)

[Windy]

Those sound like generous odds. I'd have thought the chances were even slimmer. ...I take it it didn't?

LOL - er No. Even a message saying "Happy New Year" didn't get past the blue pencil. Do you think they may be trying to tell me something?.

Mind you as LMH is about a zillion times livelier and more interesting than the AKH forum I'm not losing too much sleep over any of it

I have had more email guff from that Foden woman trying to explain why it makes sense to offer free high profile advertising in their magazine to listing sites that abuse the star rating system. It's a bit like the parable of the prodigal son - I never really got that one either. Rewarding bad behaviour seems a little too counter-intuitive for me.

[Windy]

And now I read that

Visit England and the other UK national tourist boards are mounting a major 2012 advertising campaign aimed at inspriring the British to stay at home in this special year

A high profile national TV campaign with £4 million of additional funding from the government launches in early March

Er... when do they think most people decide when to book their holidays?

By the end of February we will have taken nearly 60% of our bookings already so it's probably safe to assume that this is a horse that will already be well past the stable door by the time their advert airs.

Mind you with the amazingly persuasive idea of having offers with 20.12% off we can't fail can we?

[greenbarn]

Windy, it looks like you and I are currently off their blacklist! Mind you, your latest posts weren't particularly offensive, and mine had lots of long sentences with big words so I doubt the mods understood it anyway!

It would be nice to know what's happening though. It has crossed my mind that maybe when we coughed up for an assessment, being on a listing site was part of the deal; if so, then dropping that "free" website presence might just be breach of contract.......

[Windy]

LOL - I'm not totally off the blacklist GB.

My question to Der Alte Fritz asking what help he had had from VE regarding his PRS issue doesn't seem to have made it through for some reason I can't think why.

[greenbarn]

LOL - I'm not totally off the blacklist GB.

My question to Der Alte Fritz asking what help he had had from VE regarding his PRS issue doesn't seem to have made it through for some reason I can't think why.

It's there! Blunt, precise and present.

Flushed with success, I've fired off another post; let's see if this makes it:

There is a fundamental question being asked in this thread, by a number of contributors.

I'll simplify it, and trust that rather than leaving us in the lurch VE will answer it as a matter of urgency, as a part of their Customer Service to us, or even just out of courtesy. As it's already 14th Feb, there's precious little time.

Here's the question:

After April 1st 2012, how will an individual be able to verify the star rating of a particular property?

I chucked in today's date just as a reference point for when/if it finally appears.

[greenbarn]

Blimey! Somebody at VE has removed their head from a dark place:

VisitEngland can confirm that the Quality in Tourism website is being developed so that from April 2012 consumers will be able to use this site to search by name or by postcode any VisitEngland assessed property and be able to confirm the star rating and any accolades or Welcome Scheme awards.
The site will also provide information on what customers can expect in terms of facilities and services at each level.

We expect the first phase to include information on the date of the most recent assessment and whether it was a day or overnight visit. If the property has lapsed from the VisitEngland scheme, the date of the lapse will be provided. Later releases may include additional information on the property and details of any dispensations that have been applied to achieve the particular star rating. There will be a link from the property details page on the Quality in Tourism page to the property's own website.

Individual participants may choose to link from their own website to this page (click through from VisitEngland star rating logo) to confirm the validity of the star rating and for more information on the star ratings and awards.



Posted on behalf of Visit England Feedback.

[Windy]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... paign.html

Well it is outside London so you can't expect the poor loves to know much about it.

[greenbarn]

Ooops. Ah well, at least VB have put the Brekkin Beekins firmly on the map.

Perhaps they'd do well to concentrate on a couple of settlements, one on Orkney and one on Shetland, as VB seem to be on a roll with Twatt advertising campaigns.