Apologies for the jargon in the title. I’ve come across quite a lot of debate recently about Tourism Improvement Districts (TIDs) which made me wonder how do US TIDs differ from Tourism Business Improvement Districts (TBIDs) under discussion in the UK?
TIDs are seen as a valuable funding source for destination marketing to replace declining state funds. They are well-established in California and also in the states of Washington and Montana. TIDs are managed by a non-profit organisation, frequently an existing DMO.
However many TIDs seem to focus almost exclusively on marketing and promotion with little destination management activity. That would be a backward step in the UK where we understand the inter-related nature of the visitor economy and try to tackle destination challenges in the round. A large number of TIDs are led by accommodation businesses – with a potential danger that one set of views dominate. In the UK we already have successful Business Improvement Districts. There is no reason why a BID shouldn’t be tourism-led and several UK destinations are already looking at the opportunities and how to make those work for their destination.
The benefit of TBIDs is that the industry sits at the centre of decision-making; they are real working partnerships between all tourism interests. They bring 5 year guaranteed and known funding – an opportunity to develop and establish projects with confidence. Budgets are big enough to deliver real change because funding is an extension to existing business-rates and paid by all. However destinations may need to think about TBID boundaries which must be manageable and meaningful to businesses and visitors. Achieving support from large numbers of tourism SMEs in the district is hard work but essential to achieving BID status. Destinations may also need to think about how to engage with businesses outside the district who might want to be involved.
TIDs offer a good model for our urban and coastal destinations where there is a concentration of tourism businesses. In challenging financial times the opportunities are worth exploring but we need to mould them to fit tourism in the UK and build on what’s gone before.