What is Local Distinctiveness?
Local distinctiveness is the detail, whether natural or man-made which combines to create a ‘sense of place’, making one place different from another. Local distinctiveness can be experienced by all the senses. For many visitors, local distinctiveness is the primary motivation to visit, which is why it is so important.
Eden is a great place to live, work and run a business, but like lots of rural areas, Eden has to work hard to make its voice heard and to offer that something special and distinctive for the visitor. Lots of places are shouting out to get people to visit and using every marketing tool in the book to bring visitors to the destination, and these pages and our 'Local Distinctiveness' handbook are all about finding and celebrating those things that makes us stand out from the crowd.
We thought it was a good idea to bring some practical ideas and resources together in one place as a useful handbook and online as a toolkit to give you quick and easy actions which fit with your business and unleash the potential of Eden with powerful, compelling stories and memorable experience.
The handbook and toolkit have been carefully crafted from local ingredients and home made with the help of the world's top Eden experts...you! We hope you enjoy them and feel inspired to treasure Eden and get your customers to do the same.
The Toolkit
We've distilled this information from our handbook and distilled it into a Toolkit (resources below) which helps tourism businesses to understand more about Eden, and to develop a Local Distinctiveness resources for their own business. The purpose of the Toolkit is to help you to use the special qualities of the Eden area in developing and promoting your own product, as well as contributing to sustainable tourism.
It's organised into themes based on the special qualities of Eden, within each theme are selections of text and images as well as general information which you can freely use as part of your own publicity materials e.g. website, leaflets, posters.
Big landmarks help make an area distinctive, but it is also the collection of small things that can make a place look and feel different from another place. For the toolkit, we've put together resources for the followiing themes:
- A place to enjoy and keep special
- Buildings and architecture, art, craft and design, field walls and hedges (and the style they are in)
- Landscape, wildlife, farming types and practices and their mark on the land
- Heritage and religious monuments
- Place names, dialect, local words, music, song and poems, tall tales, legends and folklore, local jokes and stories
- People, local characters, events, festivals, food and drink
A place to enjoy and keep special
This is the theme encompassing all of the Eden distinctiveness resources. It combines the importance of the area for people’s livelihoods and enjoyment, with its value as a unique and protected landscape.
This theme can be used by the majority of businesses to help promote the area’s unique qualities to their customers. In addition to this general theme, we recommend that you make use of the other themes contained in this toolkit. Each one focuses on a key special quality of the area - from buildings and architecture, heritage and landscape to the unique characters, produce and events which contribute to the character of the area.
By taking inspiration from these themes in your day-to-day activities, you can develop a sense of 'distinctiveness’ that will not only benefit your business, but also the future of sustainable tourism in Eden.
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Text resources |
Buildings and architecture, art, craft and design, field walls and hedges
This theme can help you to uncover a wealth of local culture and colour. It provides a brief overview of architectural heritage, the buildings, artisans and craftspeople who give Eden its uniques personality. Tools to help you use this creativity and heritage to enrich your customer's experience of the area.
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Landscape, wildlife, farming types and practices and their mark on the land
This theme can help you to draw upon the character and beauty of the Eden landscape and its distinctive wildlife. You could be involved in leisure and recreation activities, or perhaps interested in using the characteristics of the area – its openness, tranquility and sense of grandeur – as a way of adding value to your products.
Wildlife can be incorporated as part of your overall business image, or when promoting the special qualities of the area to your customers. It gives an overview of the characteristic plants and animals that can help to identify your business as belonging to a landscape of national importance; also highlighting some of the activities available to visitors.
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Heritage and religious monuments
This theme can help you to uncover a wealth of local culture and heritage. It provides a brief history of the Eden landscape - how the past has shaped the present, and how you can use this history to enrich your customer’s experience of the area.
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Place names, dialect, local words, music, song and poems, tall tales, legends and folklore
This theme can help you relate your business to the people who shape the character and ‘distinctiveness’ of the area and how their impact has shaped the history and indetity of Eden with information on place names, dialect, local words, music, song and poems, tall tales, legends and folklore, local jokes and stories.
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People, local characters, events, festivals, food and drink
This theme can help you make the most of the food producers, vibrant communities and events that offer a warm welcome to visitors. It looks at the unique bounty that Eden offers visitors, highlighting the wide range of foodstuffs on offer and unique local events that add that ‘local distinctiveness’ and help to spice up your ingredients.
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