We held a live Tour Booking course (with Mark Makin – House) and 2 members’ forums (one live at Tramshed in Woolwich and one on Zoom) involving over 60 ITC members from around the UK. Paul Kaynes ACE Senior Touring Manager and Hannah Lake ACE Touring Director attended the forums and described issues raised as ‘well heard’.

Problems discussed

• Massive increase (above inflation) in costs of touring (accommodation, travel etc).
• Venue costs (energy) leading to risk-averse programming.
• Loss of programming expertise in venues.
• Demand on ACE touring fund hugely increased.
• ACE application process clunky and inflexible.
• Local authorities have no money.
• Brexit has made European touring much less lucrative and practically inefficient.
• Schools touring making even less money and arts virtually removed from the curriculum.
• Financial deals with venues worse than 15 years ago and place most risk on producers.
• Audience behaviour is changing.
• Venue ‘exclusion’ zones still in operation.

Solutions suggested

• Better, more nimble funding support to sustain touring with a realistic application process and timeframe.
• Honesty – Need to be able to discuss openly what it really costs to tour.
• Need to understand Audience/Producer/Programmer triangle better
• Theatre Tax Relief (possibility of raising loans on it – Figurative)
• Flexibility – be open to change  and doing things differently
• Communication – sharing knowledge
• Collaboration – building consortiums of touring companies
• Ed Collier’s (China Plate) 2029 touring vision well worth a read, see here

What next

• ACE have commissioned research into touring. Since the forum ITC has been invited onto external reference group to ensure issues of independent sector are fully explored.
• ITC is conducting its own touring research with a view gathering examples of good practice.
• ITC will be to producing a new venues/companies model contract and good practice guidelines in the New Year.
• ITC will convene a meeting between venues and companies/producers in the new year to explore better collaborative practice and build on constructive relationships.
• ITC will maintain the ACE/sector dialogue – review progress and invite ACE to meet with the ITC membership again soon.

Thank you to all of you who participated in the discussions and shared so generously.

Charlotte Jone, CEO ITC