Inspirational marketing campaigns to encourage more visitors to come and stay in the Peak District and Derbyshire have proved almost eight times more effective than expected – generating more than £44.7 million in extra tourism spending and creating more than 830 jobs.

Research by national tourist board VisitEngland reveals that official tourist board Visit Peak District & Derbyshire has exceeded Government targets by a huge margin thanks to its major, multi-media marketing push ‘The World Away’ – costing just £600,000 over three years in a public and private sector partnership.

Government-set goals stipulated that the campaigns – which included the area’s first-ever television commercial, advertising billboards, video on demand and on-line, print and social media promotion – should reap a return of investment of £5.8 million and create more than 130 jobs from 2012 to 2015.

But they proved much more appealing than anticipated – mirroring the wider success of VisitEngland’s national campaign, ‘Growing Tourism Locally’, funded by the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF) – which has generated an extra £1.05 billion in tourism spend and created a record number of 19,490 jobs in the tourism sector across England over the same period.

“To say we are delighted is an understatement,” said Jo Dilley, Director of Visit Peak District & Derbyshire. “‘The World Away’ has punched well above its weight in terms of both return on investment and creating jobs, bringing concrete benefits and hopefully a lasting legacy to the local and regional economy that we can build on throughout 2016 and beyond.”

Lady Cobham CBE, Chairman of VisitEngland’s Advisory Board, added: “It’s fantastic to see the results of the ‘Growing Tourism Locally’ campaign’, which was aimed at driving growth by encouraging Brits to book a short break at home in one of the many wonderful destinations on offer across England. It’s a brilliant result, promoting our beautiful country as a world-class holiday destination.”

The Peak District and Derbyshire was one of 14 English destinations to benefit from a £19.8 million pot of money – part of a total investment of £41.6 million, including contributions from VisitEngland and the private sector – funding campaigns to target specific audiences such as young couples, young couples with pre-school children, older couples and groups.

Rent charges for market traders are to be frozen as part of plans to ensure Chesterfield’s successful historic outdoor market place continues to thrive in the modern shopping world.

Last year Chesterfield Borough Council, which owns and manages the outdoor market, carried out a public consultation as part of a review looking at how the market can continue to draw in shoppers as markets across the country face increased competition from the growth of online shopping and discount stores.

Charges for traders on the general, flea and farmers’ markets are being held at their current levels to support existing traders and help with the recruitment of new traders. Fees for electricity, storage and the promotion of the open market are also being frozen.

Market charges on Chesterfield outdoor market are already cheaper or in line with those at neighbouring markets in the region.

Despite the tough economic climate for markets nationally, Chesterfield market continues to have between 100 and 150 stalls trading on market days.

To increase this further the council has begun work with traders on both short and long term plans to make improvements to the outdoor market.

Specific proposals will be drawn up over the coming months, while work starts on identifying funding to carry out more major redevelopments in the long term that could see the layout changed and improvements made to the stalls area. Some initial short term ideas are to:

·         Offer incentives for new traders

·         Continue to develop the town centre events programme to increase the number of visitors in the town, with the boost that brings to the markets

·         Looking at whether the success of the monthly artisan markets can be followed up by looking at other specialist market events

·         Helping the traders make greater use of social media to promote their products

Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Chesterfield Borough Council’s cabinet member for town centre and visitor economy, said: “The market is the heart of our town centre and we all want it to remain that way.

“But all shopping environments have to move with the times to ensure they remain relevant in a world of online shopping and so I am really pleased that the traders have agreed to work with us on both short and long terms plans to achieve that.

“Some of the key issues to address are around footfall around the market place area, the sight lines of individual stalls and weather protection to provide good trading conditions for our traders and their customers.”

Longer term options to reorganise the market place area have been put forward following public consultation that would cost between £900,000 and £3 million, depending on the route taken.

Councillor Serjeant added: “With the funding cuts the council is facing this is not something we can fund at the current time so we plan on working with the traders on options to seek grant funding or work in to our medium to long term financial plans ways of identifying the money required.

“This will enable a viable and affordable plan to be developed that can then be delivered to achieve the on-going improvements the traders and us want to see.”

General markets are held in Chesterfield every Monday, Friday and Saturday and the flea market is each Thursday. A farmers’ market is held on the second Thursday of every month and an artisan market on the last Sunday of each month.

The council also holds car boot sales every Sunday at the Proact Stadium, off Sheffield Road.

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