Digital Tourism Think Tank

Posted on: 24 April 2014
By: mackene
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The Digital Tourism Think Tank is the name given to this initiative, which aims at providing thought leadership to the tourism industry in digital marketing best practice. It offers a knowledge resource for the tourism industry, catered for the needs of Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) in particular. The web platform aims to provide a gateway to knowledge and learning, becoming the ‘go-to’ resource for Destination and e-Marketing Managers throughout the industry. It provides users with a range of services, including in-depth industry innovation and campaign analysis, an online repository for capacity building, a live knowledge stream and a line-up of webinars and workshops.

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Bayonne: Restoring buildings and citizen participation with URBACT

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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Europe’s old towns reflect the continent’s long and articulated history. Their beauty attracts visitors from all over the world, making their dwellers proud of their cultural heritage. However, living in a historical centre is often challenging: poor living conditions inherited from past concepts of urban space and architecture clash with the need for comfort of its inhabitants. The need for sustainability and energetic performance in renovation represents an additional challenge that needs to be coped with. To tackle this challenge, the city of Bayonne (France) decided to embark on an URBACT journey with partners from all over Europe. As part of this experience, the municipality had to gather relevant stakeholders and work with them to draft a local action plan. The Local Support Group set up in this perspective quickly became a driver in mobilizing citizens and local organizations around the “eco-restoration” agenda.

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Tourism for tomorrow: The WTTC perspective

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has published a document which sets out its definition of ‘Tourism for Tomorrow’, designed to serve as the framework for its future initiatives in this area, building on the work already underway through the Tourism for Tomorrow Awards programme.

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Making energy audits work for a resilient building portfolio

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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Energy audits should be carried out regularly on buildings as a part of maintenance contracts, according to a briefing paper from professionals in the sector. The paper argues that audits help to identify any increases or decreases in end use loads, which can inform the areas for further investigation and this could lead to uncovering related issues of occupant comfort, air quality and day lighting levels. 

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Sightseeing famous buildings and going on guided tours

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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The April 2014 of VisitBritain’s Foresight publication considers responses to the International Passenger Survey as regards visits that include either sightseeing famous monuments or buildings, or going on a guided tour.

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Getting ready for UK shale gas

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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A shale gas supply chain report showing huge potential economic benefits to the UK economy and measures to minimise the environmental impacts of shale gas have been announced by the Government.

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CBxchange

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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The public forum for building energy professionals, at the cutting-edge of narrowing the performance gap through sharing data, information and best practice. Its mission is to provide property professionals with the tools to understand and validate energy and carbon data to reduce the performance gap in buildings.

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Local Growth Fund (Housing Infrastructure): prospectus

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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This prospectus sets out the detail on how to access the £50 million part of the Local Growth Fund in 2015 to 2016. The Fund is designed to help speed up and restart housing developments between 250 and 1499 units that have slowed down or stalled. It aims to support housing schemes which are important for local growth and meet local priorities.

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Government sustainability policies: A manifesto for mitigation

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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With 13 months to go before the next general election, the parties are busily finalising their manifestos. Meanwhile the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that we must mitigate or face the worst consequences of climate change. This article from Melanie Thompson of Get Sust! reflects on the construction industry’s frustrations, vented at Ecobuild in March 2014, and concludes that if we don’t lobby hard now, we won’t get the manifestos we, and the planet, need. The article includes links to background information and presentations from Ecobuild.

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RICS UK Construction Market Survey: 1st quarter 2014

Posted on: 24 April 2014
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The UK private housing sector is driving a construction industry revival, although skills shortages threaten the pace of recovery, according to the latest Construction Market Survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The survey, which covers the first quarter of 2014, explains that the speed at which confidence is returning to the market is revealed by the fastest rate of growth in workloads since the Construction Market survey began in 1994.

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