Literary tourism

In part driven by literary festivals, BookTok, book clubs, films and Bookstagram, literary tourism is a growing segment of cultural tourism. Visitors drawn by a connection to a writer, a novel, or a poem tend to be highly motivated, spend more time at the destination, and make repeat visits. Planning Solutions Consulting has direct experience in developing business plans, feasibility studies and supporting funding applications for literary tourism projects, working closely with literary trusts and local authorities.

We bring the same rigorous, evidence-based approach we apply to all our heritage and visitor economy work, market assessments, options appraisals, financial modelling and funding-ready business plans, combined with hands-on experience of managing complex visitor sites.

What we can help with

• Feasibility studies and options appraisals for new literary heritage centres and visitor attractions
• Market assessments, visitor profiling and audience development strategies
• Business plans for National Lottery Heritage Fund and other major funders
• Operational reviews and income generation planning for existing literary venues
• Destination-level literary tourism strategies and trail development

Project examples

George Eliot Visitor Centre: Feasibility Study & Business Plan
Commissioned by Warwickshire County Council, we worked alongside Council Officers, the George Eliot Fellowship and the Griff House Preservation Trust to deliver a comprehensive feasibility study and business plan assessing the potential to develop a dedicated George Eliot Visitor Centre. The project sought to bring to life the rich literary and cultural heritage associated with George Eliot in Warwickshire, making it more accessible to local residents, specialist audiences and the wider visitor market.

A key strand of our work involved identifying ‘off-site’ opportunities to enhance the George Eliot visitor offer across the county — initiatives designed to serve as early ‘quick wins’ within a phased development approach, while also strengthening the visitor economy of Nuneaton and North Warwickshire more broadly. The project drew on the momentum generated by the George Eliot Bicentenary events programme in 2019, capitalising on growing interest in literary tourism across the UK. Our scope of work included:

• Reviewing and auditing George Eliot assets and collections held across Warwickshire
• Conducting stakeholder consultation with key partners and interest groups
• Carrying out a market assessment and penetration rate analysis to project future visitor numbers
• Benchmarking established UK literary visitor attractions to identify lessons applicable to this project
•  Appraising a potential site and evaluating development options in terms of scale, form and feasibility
• Reviewing governance structures and models
• Developing a financial model to test project viability
• Advising on marketing strategies and opportunities
• Undertaking a risk assessment for the proposed development
• Preservation Trust as part of an integrated client group, alongside regular liaison with relevant departments at Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.

The Charleston Trust Centenary Project
Charleston is located near Lewes and is a site of international cultural significance and a nationally important heritage site, as the home of the Bloomsbury Group. Former residents included Vanessa Bell and John Maynard Keynes, visitors included T.S Eliot, E.M Forster and Virginia Woolf. The offer consists of the house, gardens and gallery. The Trust’s portfolio of literary activities, from exhibitions and a major festival, attracts thousands of visitors each year. PSC worked with the Trust to prepare the funding application, and our work helped to secure £400,000 of funding from the Coast to Capital programme. The funding will support Charleston’s Centenary Project to restore historic barns and provide an auditorium for talks, workshops, festivals, and events. A new café/restaurant will serve visitors to Charleston. The Centenary Project will also include five new galleries and a new retail space, which will improve the visitor experience.

Arthurian Legend
The Wales Tourist Board and six counties in North Wales commissioned Planning Solutions to assess the potential to introduce a pan-North Wales heritage destination brand based on the Arthurian legend. The study involved analysing case studies of other tourism destinations which had built their brand around a historical myth or legend, an extensive consultation exercise, identifying the strategic fit of the project with key local, regional and national policies and reviewing the market position of North Wales. We drew together the research to evaluate the opportunity to introduce a new heritage destination brand identity for North Wales.

Client testimonial

“We commissioned PSC to support our client team comprising County Council officers, and volunteers from the George Eliot Fellowship, and Griff House Preservation Trust, to develop a viable business plan for a new Visitor Centre devoted to the author, based at Griff House, just outside Nuneaton. The work involved close collaboration and consultation with the Trust and wider Eliot stakeholders to work through the business plan and also deliver a longer term vision and development plan for related Eliot attractions in the area. Throughout the process we found Richard and Kevin accessible, reliable and great to work with, always meeting agreed deadlines. Their work on the options appraisal was extremely thorough and well-informed, drawing both on their valuable in-house operational management experience of running heritage attractions, as well as case studies from other centres across Britain. The final report has been extremely well received, and we’re looking forward to sharing the findings more widely at a workshop later this year. I would have no hesitation whatsoever in recommending PSC to undertake similar work.” Alex Holmes, Visitor Economy Manager, Warwickshire County Council

Managing visitor sites

Unlike many consultants, we have direct operational experience running visitor sites. Our sister company, Planning Solutions Limited, invests in and manages Kent Life Heritage Farm Park, CONKERS Discovery Centre and the Cotswold Country Park and Beach. CONKERS and Kent Life attract over 40,000 school visits a year. Between 2010 and 2022 we also reopened and managed the National Brewery Heritage Centre. We understand the financial drivers and costs that affect the ability to deliver long-term sustainable solutions for visitor sites. We’ve found that this practical operational experience has a significant positive impact on our projects and brings strong commercial realism to our work.

Discuss a literary tourism project

Call Richard Linington on 07866 742628 or email richard@pslplan.co.uk