Pilgrim Travel — A Case Study
Partners: David Lloyd, Barrie Foster
Background
In the late 1990s David Lloyd, former proprietor of The
Warpool Court Hotel in St. Davids, presented a paper on cultural tourism to
the School of Irish Heritage Management Studies at University College, Cork.
The paper was a salvo against the superficiality of a heritage industry (in
the UK as well as Ireland) that had been created artificially through the
availability of European and Lottery funding and a well intentioned drive to
employ ‘heritage’ as an instrument for tourism and economic development. The
result, in far too many cases, had been an ersatz version of the past, more
concerned with the mechanics of presentation than with the deep rooted
historical continuity of the societies and communities that it claimed to
represent.
As an alternative to this increasingly homogenised treatment of
heritage, David argued for approaches to the cultural past that would tap
into the accumulated history of communities and their sense of their own
origins. One such approach would be a return to the techniques of the
ancient ‘remembrancers’ of Wales and Ireland, those charged with the
re-telling of the story of the past and the stewardship of an unbroken thread
of memory. As example, David chose the Age of Saints on the edge of Europe,
when Wales and Ireland emerged as safe havens for Christianity and
scholarship in the barbarian west, as epitomised by the lives of their
respective patron saints. David argued for a corps of storytellers, based on
the existing pool of Blue Badge Tourist Guides, who could be trained through
a postgraduate diploma course to act as principal remembrancers for specific
chapters of the history of Wales and Ireland. David further argued that this
kind of cultural authenticity would appeal to the ethnic and social susceptibilities
of a number of niche markets, especially those from international diasporas.
Initial
Development
The concept engaged the interest of senior academic staff from the
University of Wales Lampeter and the University of Cork, who were
commissioned to produce a ‘foundation narrative’ on the lives of St. Patrick
and St. David and the historical and literary sources. The intention was to
provide a sound academic base for the development of a group travel product
and supporting tourist guide training. At this point Barrie Foster was
approached by David Lloyd to work alongside and share the workload as a
development partner in Pilgrim Travel. In parallel, the project attracted
development funding from the EU INTERREG I programme, without which it would
have been difficult to progress an ambitious project of this kind.
The completed academic narrative highlighted a potential (and not
unusual) problem. The lives of the saints, and of St. David especially, were
more mythical than historical. The reality that underlay the traditions had
been obscured by the monkish accretions of later centuries. Storylines that
focused exclusively on the two saints would lack real historical substance,
fall short on academic integrity and lack competitive edge — there were
already many products, primarily pilgrimage–based, in the marketplace. Our
decision was to develop the wider context, in space and time, and add a
factual historical dimension to the hagiographic and pilgrimage themes.
The wider context provides rich pickings. The core period saw Hunnish
invasions from the east, resulting in massive population movements and the
Germanic invasions that led, eventually, to the collapse of the Western Roman
Empire. Early in the period the protecting legions were withdrawn from
Britain after four centuries of Roman presence, leaving a Christianised
population exposed to barbarian raiders and invaders. But in the west,
isolated from the developing Church of Rome, the ‘Celtic’ Church spread from
the monastic foundations of Wales into Ireland and became a powerhouse for
the Christian communities of the Atlantic fringe. Interlaced with the story
of the western church are the epic tales of Romano-British resistance to
Anglo-Saxon settlement — the legendary campaigns of war leaders that inspired
the Arthurian “Matter of Britain”. The monastic tradition of scholarship was
to spread from Ireland, via Iona, to the north of Britain, where the British
church found its ultimate confrontation with and absorption into the Catholic
Christianity of Rome. The great Northumbrian centres of learning at Lindisfarne,
Jarrow, Whitby and York were thenceforward major influences on the
development of continental Christianity and the Carolingian renaissance that
culminated in the creation of the Holy Roman Empire.
Towards
Maturity
These, then, were the themes and storylines that informed product
development, itinerary development, guide training and marketing material.
The keystone of a sophisticated marketing portfolio and strategy is a
stand-alone CD ROM, ’Saints, Stones & Scholars — A Celebration &
Pilgrimage’, that offers a number of different perspectives on the Age of
Saints and the Dark Ages as a whole. Central is an audio-visual presentation
scripted by Welsh poet and playwright Gillian Clarke. This is supplemented by
an edited version of the academic material and extensive bibliographies; and
by a narrative summary dealing with the development of Christianity between
the accession of Constantine the Great and the crowning of Charlemagne. An
additional dimension is provided by an audio anthology of prose, poetry and
music.
The whole is underwritten by chronological tables and glosses,
compiled from a wide range of sources, with 500 entries covering the period
between 300AD and 800AD. The CD ROM is complemented by promotional print and
response material.
Product
Launch
In 2002 the Pilgrim Travel partners were introduced to an international
group travel company by the Wales Tourist Board, who offered funding
assistance towards the final stages of development. The company elected to
adopt the product under licence and market the package through its existing
overseas offices and contact network. The culminating stage was to finalise
the itineraries in Wales and Ireland, and for the partners to produce a
Pilgrim Travel web site which is fully integrated with conventional marketing
and support material and the travel company’s existing operation. In 2003 a
group of Blue Badge Guides completed a familiarisation course at University
College Wales Lampeter and Pilgrim Travel was launched in the USA later in
the year.
The
process of researching and building the Pilgrim Travel product is an example
of a creative, effective and flexible approach to the development and
marketing of an authentic historical package. Our methodology is equally
applicable to other historical themes and destination regions. Use the e-mail
link below to contact us in the first instance.
Barrie Foster FTS, MCIM, MISPAL, Chartered Marketer
The Old Coach House Mathry Haverfordwest Pembrokeshire Wales UK SA62
5HB
Phone: +44 (0)1348 831081 Fax +44 (0)1348 831081 E:
barrie.foster1@btinternet.com
© 2009 Barrie Foster & Associates unless otherwise
stated.
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