Sail South East Launches New Website
What is Sail South East?
The South East of England is a pre-eminent area for yachting tourism, both by UK residents (from within and outside the region) and from overseas. Sail South East (SSE) is a mutual organisation of Marinas, Moorings or Harbour Authorities, and Local Authorities responsible for coastal areas. It is a group, rather than a separate commercial company, and is mutually owned by it's members.
The principal objectives of SSE are to undertake mutual initiatives aimed at improving awareness among potential visitors, and improving the services and facilities available, in yacht harbours (including marinas, moorings and anchorages), in the South East of England and neighbouring cruising areas.
Why are Sail South East providing the new information website?
Whilst printed almanacs and reference materials are still used by most people for leisure boating, many new users are less familiar with these traditional resources. Electronic communications are becoming the information medium of choice. The internet, with rapid growth in its usage, is already the first "port of call" for many visitors seeking information, both for planning a trip, whilst underway and in port.
The intention of the SSE website is to enable visitors who are not fully familiar with an area to plan their route and select their preferred harbours, marinas and moorings. Information is readily available online, but potential visitors do not necessarily know the correct names, or exact locations; so search engines can produce very unsatisfactory results. The website also provides links to Coastal Authorities and tourism information sites, so that visitors can plan their leisure activities around their destinations. The design permits potential visitors to see the whole region at a glance, and then navigate within the website to individual locations. It is intended to serve regional residents, visitors from other areas of the UK and visitors from abroad
The website was built by Design Haus (www.dhaus.com). The site was built using the latest ASP.NET technologies interacting with a SQL database. The website has a fully functional administration area designed to enable easy updating in a graphic user interface.
How does the new website work?
The Home page (www.sailsoutheastengland.co.uk or www.sailsoutheastengland.com) shows the overall South East region, slightly extended westward to the natural dividing point at Portland Bill, with the coastline divided into three main cruising areas:
1. Portland Bill to the Needles
2. The Solent
3. Chichester to the Medway
Clicking on any one of these areas opens a new page on which all the main marinas, harbours, and coastal authorities in membership, are shown. Selecting any location with the cursor opens a separate information page. The content of each individual page contains information Members have submitted, within a standard format. These pages act as a gateway, with direct links to Members own detailed websites.
SSE consider this a public information service, so basic data is also provided for all non-member locations. It is hoped they will join and participate in the group.
Who has supported Sail South East?
The profile of "yachting tourism" in South East England was first measured by a survey in 2003, arranged by Tourism South East (TSE), with co-operation from The Yacht Harbours Association members in the region. This project was supported by a grant from SEEDA. The research showed that there was a need to improve information for potential visitors, so TSE has provided ongoing administrative support while the group has been in formation.
An open meeting was held at the Southampton Boatshow in 2005, and initial commitment was readily given by the leading groups with marinas in the region: Dean and Reddyhoff, MDL and Premier Marinas, and a number Local Authorities with coastal interests, including Southampton, Hamble and Chichester, and several other individual Marinas and locations. Sam Bourne, Chair of The Yacht Harbours Association was elected the first Chair of SSE, and an Executive committee was formed, drawn from these initial members.
In the "chicken and egg" situation of recruiting members and raising sufficient funds to proceed with the website, crucial support has been given by Marine South East and the Southampton Marine Community.
What's next from sail South East?
SSE is essentially a "not for profit" mutual group. Getting anything done requires resources, and raising money is not easy! All revenues raised will be applied to the objectives (stated in full on the website). The immediate priority will be to improve the website, by including more content supplied by Members, monitoring usage and feedback, and increasing its functionality.
The next priorities will be set by the Members, around the general purposes of mutual initiatives that encourage communications, optimum use of facilities and best practise, so that the yachting tourism facilities of the region become acknowledged by users as being "world class". SSE wants to encourage the improvement of services and systems available to, and used to manage, visiting yachts. More reliable data is needed to plan better services, so we hope to undertake essential research. Capacity is a key issue, so we intend to monitor this in relation to current and potential demand, and encourage sustainable policies that recognise the needs and benefits, and support wise growth.