It is an all too familiar scenario, Hidden Britain go out to work with a community who have plans, strategies and enthusiasm galore, but have not actually started. For a community with a shared passion for their area it is easy to form a group and start talking with the right people.

Where a project usually falters is getting the plan off of the page and into reality, occasionally a hurdle will appear halfway through and grind the project to a halt – this is where local government can add their magic.

Having worked with numerous community groups on multi-stakeholder tourism projects, Hidden Britain is well placed to reflect on how these challenges can be overcome with a nudge from local authorities. Community-lead tourism can have hugely positive effects for public sector bodies. Rather than competing views, councils can work in tandem with the community they serve enabling a sense of togetherness and become a positive directional force, rather than a Big Brother figure.

When working with the economic development teams for South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils the community tourism project built strong business links across a large rural area. Due to the rural nature of the businesses there had previously been little interaction between them.

However by drawing them together for a community lead tourism project, the economic teams enabled the business owners to gain the benefits of acting as a large synchronised visitor attraction that could draw in a wider pool of potential customers. The project also enhanced inter-council communication.

The community-lead OxTrails app that was developed involved over 300businesses concurrently. It would not have been possible if left to a community group alone. As there would not have been enough resource to bring everyone together for workshops and training.

Another major issue for community groups are skills gaps, it is a common problem to know what needs to be done, but not to have the skills required to complete the challenges faced. Where local authorities can afford to promote training opportunities benefits reach far beyond that of the initial attendees. An example of this from Hidden Britain is a selection of tourism and small business marketing courses run for Visit Kent.

The courses provided local businesses with basic skills for marketing tourism using social media. The business owners who attended have gone on to apply the same group of skills to networking, community events and in training their own staff. There is a snowball effect which serves to raise awareness, and also the capabilities of the local economy.

The integration of public and private sector interests serves to meet both stakeholder groups, as well as benefitting the wider community. Creating strong bonds between key decision makers and working collaboratively gives a community the confidence they need to turn their considered ideas into purposeful actions, decreasing the human resource pressure on local government, and still meeting economic aims overall.

This has only served to scratch the surface of the benefits a bit of team work can achieve, and when budgets are being ever-tightened and economic targets increasesd, community tourism projects are a must.

Nicole New is from responsible tourism charity Hidden Britain