Agenda item - Chairs Communications

49.1    The Chair provided the following updates:

“ Good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee. I’d like to inform those present that this meeting is being webcast live and will be capable of repeated viewing.

On Friday 21 February I attended an event to mark the opening of Queer the Pier exhibition in the Spotlight Gallery at Brighton Museum. The exhibition has been created by a group of community curators from LGBTIQ+ communities in Brighton & Hove and celebrates the lives of the writers, artists, performers, activists and ordinary people who have made Brighton and Hove so fabulous.  Their stories are brought to life with film and photography, fashion and drag and oral history. 

The 100 First Women Portraits exhibition is also now on show at Brighton Museum until 7 June.  The collection of photographs by Anita Corbin features 100 pioneering women of 21st Century.

On 30 March I will be attending the Brighton & Hove Cultural Summit at The Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts.  This years Summit is titled Your City, Your Art? and explores inclusive arts practice.  The day will include presentations, performances, workshops and exhibitions looking at how we can involve as many people as possible to take part in the arts and how we can make sure the arts are engaging, friendly, and accessible for everyone across the City.

There is less than 500 days to go until the UEFA Women’s EURO tournament which kicks off on 7 July 2021.  Excitement is already building for the tournament which will see England's Lionesses joining 15 other nations, playing 31 matches at venues across the country including three at the Brighton & Hove Community Stadium. Hundreds of thousands of fans are expected to attend the tournament and millions more will watch the globally-televised event.

The Stadium was chosen as a host city following a bid by Brighton & Hove City Council, Brighton & Hove Albion FC and the Sussex County Football Association.

As one of the eight host cities, Brighton & Hove is planning a programme of fan events in the lead-up to and during the tournament, as well as a legacy programme to improve access to and participation in girls’ and women’s football.

I was pleased to attend an event for Holocaust Memorial Day at the Old Courtroom on 27^th January.  The event was led by the Jewish Community Holocaust Education Project, who also do really important work in schools, and supported by Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation as well as by the Council.  This year’s Holocaust Memorial Day marked the 75^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and the 25^th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia. The theme was Standing Together and it was great to see such a diverse mix of people coming together for this event, including those from faith, LGBTQ, refugee and disability community groups, with 170 people attending.  We heard powerful personal stories relating to both the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide and messages which reiterated the importance of continuing to stand together against all forms of hatred.   

Brighton and Hove Tourism Awards

Working with over 530 City partners engaged in tourism, in the last 3 months VisitBrighton has:

·       Engaged with 23.1k followers on Instagram; 61.4k Twitter followers and 28k likes on Facebook

·       Run a digital campaign to promote May Festivals with a reach estimate of 1m+ people

·       Since the 1st October 2019 to 29th February 2020 the VisitBrighton Convention Bureau has:

·       Submitted 57 Conference Proposals to conference planners that has a combined Direct Economic Benefit of £21m+

·       Confirmed 19 new Meetings and Conferences for the city and its venues:

o   Biochemical Society, September 2020, x 400 delegates

o   British Association of Cognitive Neuroscience, September 2020, x 300 delegates

o   British Association of Supported Employment, November 2021 x 200 delegates

o   British Neuroscience Association, April 2021, x 200 delegates

o   UK Council for Graduate Education, February 2021, x 400 delegates

This year the tourism industry is pleased to announce the inaugural Brighton and Hove Tourism Awards, in association with Visit Brighton and the Brighton and Hove Tourism Alliance, the Brighton and Hove Tourism Awards aims to promote and celebrate the city’s vibrant and diverse tourism sector.

These awards are a great opportunity to show appreciation to those individuals and businesses in the tourism sector that embrace the city’s values and have become great ambassadors for Brighton and Hove.

There are 15 coveted trophies up for grabs, representing a diverse range of business sectors involved in attracting visitors to our great city, winners will be announced on the June 15^th2020. Further information can be found at www.bhtawards.com .”