Tim Light, Managing Director of the King Harry Steam Ferry Company, presented the issues and benefits of collaborative initiatives within the leisure and tourism sector involving bus and water transport operators, the local authority, tourist attractions and the National Trust, in relation to the Fal River area, Falmouth, Cornwall.

Cornwall is a very popular tourist destination and the population can increase from 250 000 to 3 million over the peak tourist season in the summer. This has a huge impact on the environment and the local transport network.

Independent travel operators working in the Fal River area formed a partnership. One of their main aims was to widen travel choices through improved information. To date one of the principle achievements has been the introduction of joint marketing initiatives with intentions to build in further improvements in information and marketing in the future.

Catherine McCloskey, from the Black Country Knowledge Society, spoke with Tim Light and explained about the CARMEN project. Tim could see that the software would provide an accessible channel for communication with citizens and visitors to the area. It could easily and quickly update users about changes to transport schedules. In addition to the known opportunities for take-up of CARMEN with Public Administrations, it looks like there could be potential to market CARMEN to SMEs.

Author: Catherine McCloskey