27 Aug 2025
Full line-up revealed for Tourism Business Conference 2025
Accessibility, customer experience and research will be some of the subjects at the 2025 Suffolk and Norfolk Tourism Business Conference.
The event, on October 1 at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, will be a great opportunity for the sector to come together, with lots of opportunities for networking and discussion.
The day’s first speaker is Government Disability and Access Ambassador Ross Calladine, Head of Business Support at VisitEngland, in-house accessibility specialist at the national tourism organisation and known for developing and delivering initiatives that engage tourism businesses and destinations in accessible tourism.
Having amassed over 13 years of dedication in the field of accessible tourism and become a respected subject matter expert, not only in the UK but worldwide, Ross led the development of England’s first Accessible Tourism Action Plan, guidance that will help inform the new Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP’s on-going digital infrastructure development.
This will be a fascinating and practical workshop to help make businesses more aware of the Purple Pound and its £274bn a year value to the UK economy.
Ethical and Sustainable Business Advisor Sarah Duncan, author of the VisitBritain Regenerative Tourism Guide, will be the lead panellist on a roundtable about how tourism can – and should – have a positive impact, leaving a place better than it was before.
The roundtable will provide an entertaining question and answer session as well as delving into how tourism businesses can work to help revitalise and regenerate destinations.
Sergi Jarques, owner and director at market research agency Destination Research, has extensive experience in providing effective market research, economic impact evaluations and insights, using multiple data collection channels and methodologies.
Sergi’s session will provide a compelling narrative on segmentation and targeting strategies bringing together market research and marketing delivery as well as insights into business and destination development.
After lunch Mary Harris of Bird Global Consultancy will outline the development of Suffolk and Norfolk’s placemaking brand ‘Naturally’, a project aimed at attracting new visitors to the area, developing a year-round visitor economy, and encouraging more staying visitors.
Mary has led the project for six months, working with stakeholders across the sector, not least Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) and wildlife, landscape and environment bodies, with a view to develop compelling and unique reasons to visit.
The conference keynote speaker is Jonathan Winchester of Insight 6, a leading expert on Customer Experience (CX), with more than 30 years transforming how tourism and hospitality businesses connect with their customers.
Jonathan will help delegates better understand the key moments that shape a visitor’s stay and why memorable experiences are the key to attracting and retaining visitors. The presentation will provide invaluable advice to implement in your business.
The day will also be an opportunity to learn more about the Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP, its upcoming Destination Content Management System and Digital Infrastructure, and the Suffolk and Norfolk LVEP Destination Management Plan.
