Paul Reach, of Swannaton Road, Dartmouth, writes:

Brian Yole’s letter, Chronicle, September 16, highlighted a problem that has plagued the town for many years, but I believe the problem is more widespread than he stated.

During my chairmanship of the Dartmouth Business Forum, now known as Dartmouth and District Chamber of Trade and Businesses, I represented the businesses as a member of the regatta committee. I made the same point that Brian has made to the committee, and even ­carried out an online business survey to find out how Dartmouth’s businesses felt about the annual regatta.

The conclusions bear out Brian’s comments in that many businesses suffer reduced trade during regatta because the committee invites outside traders to come to the town and benefit from the 60,000 visitors who normally attend regatta.

The food-based businesses in particular suffer because of the 20-odd food stalls that are established.

The argument from the ­committee at the time was that the fees from the stalls fund the air displays.

Sadly, in my opinion, this ignores the reasons the regatta was originally expanded to what it is today. It should be a water-based event that benefits the economy of the town as much as possible. Our seasonal visitor-based economy cannot reach its potential when the peak week of the year is sold out to outside traders who take the money out of the Dartmouth economy.

I tried to make this point ­several years ago, but my pleas fell on deaf ears. This was ­particularly sad because at the time the committee was chaired by our district councillors, who I believe should have the ­economy of the town as their highest priority.

Do not misunderstand my comments, I appreciate fully the great work of the volunteers who make this event happen, and I am happily oblivious to the land-based activities myself as I am ­enjoying racing in the bay for four days.

However, it should not be difficult to reorientate the regatta to make sure that

all local businesses get the ­opportunity to benefit from this peak visitor week. Surviving our seasonal economy is tough enough for businesses without the prime week being sold to outside businesses.

However, my concern is that there is a real problem in Dartmouth that those who make the decisions appear to want to ignore.

Look at the evidence: regatta attendance is down significantly compared with last year’s; the board of the Tourist Information Centre has resigned because of the financial decline of the organisation, leaving the council to pick up the baton; and the Dartmouth Business Improvement District project was closed after only two years because it failed to implement the five-year business plan.

In my opinion, these are all indicators of a serious problem that is causing a decline in the economic prosperity of the town. Coupled with the district council’s attempts to balance its books by charging the festivals for everything, this is creating a serious risk to Dartmouth’s economy.

Why did the BID fail? Why has the TIC suffered a long-term decline in subscriptions? And why was attendance down so much for regatta?

I believe one factor is that the town is simply not using the best modern-destination ­marketing methods to promote the town.

The TIC continues to rely on a glossy brochure and a static website to promote the town’s businesses, but because of a declining subscription income and a failure to control costs, the subscriptions no longer provide value for money, resulting in a slow but inevitable decline in income.

The management have not recognised how destination marketing has shifted online during the past 10 years, since the launch in 2004 of Facebook and Twitter, with social media being the tool of choice for ­successful destinations. We have at least one B&B in Dartmouth that understands this, which now has more than 40,000 Twitter followers, ­generating upwards of 500,000 impressions during August alone. The TIC has failed to ­follow this shift in marketing emphasis.

The BID abandoned the long-term strategic marketing plan within six months of starting up. This plan was voted for by 64 per cent of Dartmouth ­businesses, which engaged with the BID, resulting in businesses losing confidence in the BID’s ability to deliver the benefits we promised.

The BID board members lacked the online marketing skills; they lacked the communication skills, which meant they failed to inform businesses what they were doing, despite having a website specifically designed to do just that; and they lacked commitment to the business plan, with 64 per cent of businesses wanting them to deliver.

In the end, businesses lost faith totally in the BID project, which for me, having dedicated two years to working with a great team to create the ­opportunity, is particularly sad.

I now have the same ­concerns about the opportunity presented by the Mayflower 400 project in 2020.

Peter Conisbee, past ­chairman of the BID, told the council at its last meeting that Dartmouth will be the centre of the Mayflower 400 activities. If you do a Google search on Mayflower 400, you will find that there is no mention of Dartmouth until you get down to the fourth page of results.

According to Google, the event is clearly focused on Plymouth.

If we are to get the benefit of this event, then we must establish a much stronger digital presence and we must establish a clear digital strategy for ­marketing Dartmouth as a focal point for the event, otherwise we will miss this great opportunity.

Again, I am sure the Mayflower team members are doing everything they can to organise great events and displays for this celebration, but if we fail to raise the profile of Dartmouth by marketing it as a Mayflower 400 venue, then we will not make the most of this one-off opportunity.

Dartmouth has a real problem and so far it is refusing to face up to it. I agree that Dartmouth is a nicer place when it is not crowded with visitors, but we are in a tourist economy here, and if we fail to understand that and make the most of the fantastic gem that we live in during the six-month season, then the economy will continue to decline and that will affect everyone in the town, not just those involved directly in the tourism sector.

I tried my hardest to help by raising the funding needed to establish the BID opportunity, but the opposition I faced both from outside and inside the BID company made it impossible to play a constructive part in its delivery. Something I will always regret. I remain ­passionate about my town,

but concerned that it is not responding to the ­challenges it is facing.

Many tourist destinations are benefitting from the reaction to terrorism in France, Turkey and Tunisia, with staycations growing fast. We have just returned from Majorca, which has seen an increase in visitors of 11 per cent this season, and many UK resorts are reporting the same.

For goodness’ sake Dart­mouth, please wake up and respond to the problems we are seeing before our own eyes.