Weymouth and Portland Chamber of Commerce together with the Weymouth BID hosted a European visit from neighbouring Chamber of Commece from Blokhus, Denmark.
Earlier in the year the Blokhus Chamber of Commerce wrote to the West Dorset Tourism department asking for help to organise a fact finding business visit for their members. The local authority did not have the resources to organise this type of visit, so the enquiry ended up on the desk of the Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce who immediately contacted the Weymouth BID and decided to form a team who could host the visit during 9th– 12th April. The team quickly decided on an itinerary and budget to facilitate the visit.
The members arrived on 10thApril and were greeted by Nigel Reed, Manager of the Weymouth BID who with the help of tourism experts Jacqui Gisborne and Steve Davies from Weymouth & Portland Borough Council Tourism dept, took the visitors on a tour of Weymouth, Portland and the Jurassic Coast. In the evening the visitors were treated to a first class dinner hosted by President of WPCC, Michelle Hind at her newly opened restaurant No. 4 which is located on Weymouth Harbour. The guests enjoyed a superb Fruit de Mer followed by seafood and steak, delicious desserts and cup-cakes commissioned by Ms Hind displaying the Danish and Dorset flags.
Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce President, Michelle Hind said “This has been a wonderful opportunity to meet with Chamber of Commerce members from Blokhus and such a learning curve. Proud of what they had to say about Weymouth & Portland but they did mention the empty shops. Come on landlords fill them. Come on WPBC stop reducing rates for empty shops instead give an incentive to fill them !”
The Channel Guest House provided accommodation for the group and many other businesses including Bowleaze Cove Sandworld Sand Sculpture Festival – Weymouth Weymouth SEA LIFE Tower Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park Portland Bill Lighthouse Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door Wareham, Dorset (Quay & Visitor Centre) Arne Nature Reserve Corfe Castle, Dorset Corfe Castle The Greyhound Inn, Corfe Castle Swanage Railway Chamber of Trade Swanage Swanage Pier Sandworld, Sealife Tower and Park, Portland Bill Lighthouse, Lulworth Cove, Durdle Door, Wareham, Arne Nature reserve, Corfe Castle, Greyhound Inn, Swanage Railway, Swanage Pier and Swanage Chamber of Trade welcomed the guests during their visit.
Bowleaze Cove Sandworld Sand Sculpture Festival – Weymouth Weymouth SEA LIFE Tower Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park Portland Bill Lighthouse Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door Wareham, Dorset (Quay & Visitor Centre) Arne Nature Reserve Corfe Castle, Dorset Corfe Castle The Greyhound Inn, Corfe Castle Swanage Railway Chamber of Trade Swanage Swanage Pier feedback about the area from the team and particularly of the activities that they experienced. We’d like to take a moment to thank Weymouth BID Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce and Weymouth & Portland Borough Council for all their work and efforts in organising the weekend, the Blokhus team were all very excited about the whole weekend as they left this morning. Thanks also to the many businesses and attraction operators that also helped to make this weekend such a success, Bowleaze Cove Sandworld Sand Sculpture Festival – Weymouth Weymouth SEA LIFE Tower Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park Portland Bill Lighthouse Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door Wareham, Dorset (Quay & Visitor Centre) Arne Nature Reserve Corfe Castle, Dorset Corfe Castle The Greyhound Inn, Corfe Castle Swanage Railway Chamber of Trade Swanage Swanage Pier
The team had an absolutely stunning meal at No. 4 on Weymouth harbourside on Friday night, at breakfast on Saturday morning they made us extremely jealous by telling us just how special the food and service had been so well done to the team at No. 4.
Saturday night the team dined at The Stable on Weymouth harbourside and again had another great experience which is another great advert for the area that we work so hard to give our guests and visitors experiences to remember.
Thanks to Jacqui Gisborne for providing transport for the team and for hosting the whole weekend.
Bowleaze Cove Sandworld Sand Sculpture Festival – Weymouth Weymouth SEA LIFE Tower Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park Portland Bill Lighthouse Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door Wareham, Dorset (Quay & Visitor Centre) Arne Nature Reserve Corfe Castle, Dorset Corfe Castle The Greyhound Inn, Corfe Castle Swanage Railway Chamber of Trade Swanage Swanage Pier welcomed the guests.
Saturday night the team dined at The Stable on Weymouth harbourside and again had another great experience which is another great advert for the area that we work so hard to give our guests and visitors experiences to remember.
On day two, the visitors explored the Purbeck area including the Swanage Railway and met with the local Tourism departments in Swanage.
Jannie Ratke Kristiansen organised the event on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce in Blokhus and said “Every year the chamber of Commerce visit a new destination in order to gain inspiration, which can help to further destination development for our own town. This year Weymouth was chosen as a destination because of the great number of similarities. Blokhus is like Weymouth, a very popular seaside resort with a long white beach, beach huts, sand sculpture festival, Kite festival etc. Another reason why Weymouth was chosen can be found in the fact that Weymouth is up front according to events, and the many networking activities held by Chamber of Commerce. We have enjoyed our visit and have learnt a lot from the Weymouth & Portland business community. Thank you for having us”
Nigel Reed, Manager of the Weymouth BID said “The tour proved useful to both Blokhus and Weymouth & Portland as each had ideas based on their own activities to encourage visitors. They were particularly interested in events and the wide range on offer in this area.”
If you would like more information on the Weymouth & Portland Chamber of Commerce please view www.wpchamber.co.uk or the Weymouth BID on www.weareweymouth.co.uk or www.weymouthbid.co.uk
