Shropshire tourism funding budget slashed in half
Tuesday 3rd May 2011, 6:30PM BST.
An organisation which promotes tourism in Shropshire has seen its annual funding slashed by more than half. Shropshire Tourism has been told by Shropshire Council that its funding for 2011/12 will drop by 54 per cent.
It is a reduction of £29,000.
Instead, the unitary authority will pay the group £20,708 for six months from April 1 to September 30 to continue to promote the county.
It is not yet known what will happen after September.
At Shropshire Tourism’s AGM at the end of March, the organisation agreed to increase membership fees in order to try to cover some of the loss of funding.
A statement to members says: “We recognise that the final recommended fee of £190, approved by the membership does represent a significant increase of £25 on the 2010/11 rate of £165.
“This £25 increase is made up of a 29 per cent (£7.10) increase in VAT — following the government’s increase in VAT rates to 20 per cent — and a 12.75 per cent (£17.90) increase in the actual membership fee.
“Assuming we achieve our projected membership figures next year this will hopefully generate around £8,600 of additional income leaving some £20,400 still to find through other savings and alternative income generation to simply make up for the £29,000 SLA reduction, including charging non-members to manage their Englandnet data.
“The Board of Shropshire Tourism tried to minimise the cost implications of the council’s decision.”
Shropshire Tourism was originally formed in 1995 to promote Shropshire as a visitor destination and provide support to the tourism industry in the county.
For more information call Shropshire Tourism on (01743) 261919 or e-mail enquiries@shropshire tourism.co.uk
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This cut seems short sighted, as it could probably be demonstrated that this particular spend yields a return on the investment.
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