Marketing leisure services over the Web in a county council

This paper describes the provision of a feasibility study for the development of a county leisure information service for a shire county in England, and discusses how the structural and political issues that arise are likely to be generic to any service of this type. Analysis is given of the current provision of leisure and tourist information systems, both on traditional forms of media and on the World Wide Web. A solution is proposed that enables the Local Authority and other information providers to avoid unnecessary duplication of existing databases. The argument is developed that existing leisure services must become integrated with Web developments if they are to reach potential customers, who are defined as belonging to two separate categories - county residents and visitors. Recommendations are made that would enable the target audience to be reached by establishing a Leisure Information Web System to reach audiences who may be anywhere on the Net; and to develop Web kiosks, for use in public places, which may operate offline. The paper also discusses the possible managerial and financial implications of running this service.