THE organisation managing Oxfordshire’s £2bn tourism economy is having its city council grant slashed to zero.
The council has agreed to cut the grant to Experience Oxfordshire, the destination management organisation running Oxford’s visitor information centre in Broad Street.
The Labour-run council has agreed that the £173,000 annual grant should be cut by £20,000 in April, then reduced by a further £25,000 in 2020, with no grant given from the following year onwards.
Hayley Beer-Gamage, chief executive of Experience Oxfordshire, urged the council to reconsider as the reduction will make it more difficult for staff to oversee the tourism economy.
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She said: “In terms of Oxford city alone there are nearly eight million visitors per annum, with an £874m spend per annum in Oxfords economy supporting over 15,000 jobs across the city.”
Mary Clarkson, board member for culture and city centre, said ‘hard choices had to be made in tough times’.
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She praised Experience Oxfordshire for being one of the leading DMOs in the country but she added that it was funded by the public and private sector and could seek additional funding from private backers, including hoteliers.
The council owns the TIC building and subsidises the rent.
Ms Clarkson said the local authority could help Experience Oxfordshire to find alternative accommodation, if necessary, when the Broad Street lease expires in 2021. She added: “We could also look at a different model, with the council commissioning services from Experience Oxfordshire.”
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Andrew Gant, leader of the council’s Liberal Democrat group, said the decision was ‘short-sighted’. A panel of the council’s scrutiny committee will review the decision.
Mr Gant added: “The cut could mean Experience Oxfordshire being forced to find a different location which is not as good as the current one.”
City council spokesman Mish Tullar said the phased withdrawal of subsidy had been a ‘difficult budget decision’. He added: “It is hoped that Experience Oxfordshire will become more self-sustaining and adapt to running without subsidy from us.”
He added the council would continue to work closely with Experience Oxfordshire.
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