Purple Flag Places -
BRISTOL

Bristol is a dynamic, prosperous, forward looking city that is the gateway to the South West with ambitions to be one of the great European cities, proud of its diverse communities, proud of its history and proud of the rich range of attractions on offer to both visitors and residents. Bristolians have great pride in their city and the uniqueness that comes with being part of it. It has a rich history of innovation ranging from Brunel to Aardman and Banksy.

Bristol attracts almost half a million overseas visitors a year (staying at least one night) and in 2009 was nominated as one of the top ten best cities in the world to visit for a short break (DK Eye Witness Travel). Visitors and residents bring the city centre to life and during the summer months. The city’s Harbourside areas, public squares and green spaces are vibrant, exciting places and its visitor economy is worth an estimated £1billion annually to Bristol’s economy supporting almost 20,000 jobs.

The Purple Flag partnership intended to attract a greater number of visitors into the city centre at night and to reduce the negative perceptions that some people held about our city centre. We also felt that we had made considerable progress with partners in bringing about change and believed that the PF award would be an independent confirmation of our achievements to date.

One of the most significant achievements is that PF has acted as a catalyst to enhance partnership work around managing the night time economy. Night time self assessments are now a permanent fixture and have proved invaluable for addressing issues and identifying new opportunities to improve the offer to residents and visitors using the city centre. At a time of diminishing public sector funding this partnership pooling of resources is probably the only sustainable way to ensure that standards in the night time economy are maintained and developed, therefore in many ways PF is more relevant now then ever.

The assessors and the panel were impressed by specific actions, including:

• The working partnership between the authorities, Destination Bristol and other key business partners who all provide confidence for a positive future.
• The commitment to arts and culture in encouraging local arts projects and individuals to showcase their work

"The judges recognised Bristol has an attractive, vibrant and well-managed city centre. The award clearly demonstrates to visitors that our city centre offers a high standard and wide choice of entertainment with the support of well co-ordinated services for a welcoming night out".
Cllr Gary Hopkins, Bristol City Council Cabinet Member for Targeted Improvement.

Centre Contact
Nick Carter
Enforcement and Regulatory Services
Manager
Tel: 0117 914 2511
Email: nick.carter@bristol.gov.uk

Information Files:

10-10-Bristol_Case_StudyV2.pdf
Filesize: 1,301 Kb

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