Contributor Agreement

www.visitardsandnorthdown.com

Visit Ards and North Down Contributor Agreement

This agreement sets out the terms and conditions for how we use your information on visitardsandnorthdown.com (“the Site”) and governs distribution of such information to third parties. In addition to this agreement, Ards and North Down Borough Council and you will be bound be the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Site and you will be bound by the Terms and Conditions of Use of discovernorthernireland.com website.

Holiday makers at home and abroad trust Visit Ards and North Down (the trading name of Ards and North Down Borough Council Tourism Service Unit) and the Site to provide them with exciting, relevant, timely and accurate information to help plan their holiday in the Ards and North Down Borough Council area. We greatly value your input to help ensure the needs of our collective visitors are met. Adherence to this agreement will help to improve the quality of information we provide to visitors on your behalf.

As an operator you must agree to and comply with the following terms:

Essential Terms

In order to provide the potential visitor with the relevant information, Ards and North Down Borough Council and Visit Ards and North Down Borough Council Tourism Service Unit (hereinafter collectively referred to as “Visit Ards and North Down”) requires all entries on the Site to comply with the following terms and conditions:

 • If you are an accommodation business, you must be registered with Tourism NI and certified to trade in Ards and North Down Borough, Northern Ireland.

• If a Caravan and Camping Park you must be graded under the British Graded Holiday Parks Scheme (BGHPS)

• Non-accommodation businesses must be operational in Ards and North Down Borough, Northern Ireland.

•The Business means any operator which provides tourism related services

•The Business or Event shown must permit public access to the event, accommodation or attraction; and if the entry relates to an attraction provide visitor interpretation

• The Business or Event shown on the website must be open regularly including one day in the weekend during tourism peak periods and holiday times which have a relevance to your specific tourism offering.

• The Business shown shall be available for visitors to contact by email and telephone.

• Event; for the purposes of the Visit Ards and North Down website an event is deemed as a one-off, semi-regular or annual event or festival.

Events which are particularly suitable are major annual events with significant reputation, or events with potential to appeal to tourists or to grow (e.g. those identified as being suitable for Tourism NI funding and / or Ards and North Down Borough Council Tourism Service Unit funding).

• The Business must comply with all applicable planning, tax, insurance (including public liability insurance), transportation (including licensing), safety, consumer protection and other legal and regulatory requirements. For the avoidance of doubt compliance with this clause shall be your sole responsibility and Visit Ards and North Down or Ards and North Down Borough Council shall have no liability in respect of same.

 • No content will be accepted if in Ards and North Down Borough Council’s sole opinion it could be held to discriminate, or cause offence and such content may include but not be limited to any reference that could be considered discriminatory on the basis of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or race.

Content must be relevant to the Ards and North Down Borough Council area, accurately describe the offering and the Business in turn should promote Visit Ards and North Down and www.visitardsandnorthdown.com as a link from their website.

In addition to the above, the following types of content must also comply with the requirements set out beside each entry type:

• Activities must: Be accredited or meet ORNI’s (Outdoor Recreation Northern Ireland) minimum standards or be Tourism Northern Ireland brand approved;

- Any instructor responsible for taking a group or individual on an activity promoted via Visit Ards and North Down or ORNI will have the minimum qualification and adhere to the instructor / student ratio as required by the relevant governing / accreditation body (e.g. British Association of Rally Schools / Royal Yachting Association).

For those activities which do not have a National Governing Body or qualification structure the instructor has undergone comprehensive in-house training.

- The organisation holds at least £5 million public liability insurance cover for the activities promoted.

• Mountain Bike Trails: Trails should be colour graded by difficulty e.g. green, blue, etc. and only be suitable for use by Mountain Bikes. Multi use trails can be listed under cycling.

• Walks / Walking Routes: Walking routes and paths will be included if: - Graded by ORNI; or - Path/walk way is maintained by local authority, government agency or a registered charity.

• Cycle Trails and Routes: Trails and paths must be maintained by local authority, government agency or registered charity.

• Canoe Trails: Only those developed and designed by ORNI will be listed.

• Pubs/Night Clubs: Must be appropriately licensed under the Licensing (Northern Ireland) Order 1996 and any amending or subsequent registration.

• Restaurants/cafés: Must be Food Standards Agency (FSA) Grade 3 and above and have a hospitality-led establishment.

• Spa facilities: Must include; treatment rooms, cater for groups of 2 or more, offer tailored pamper packages and have a Steam room or Sauna.

• Open Farms: Adhere to the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 and the codes of practice within this, these can be found on the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs website and Health and Safety guidelines on Open Farms, these can be found on the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland's website.

• Tours: Where content refers to ‘The Troubles’ and/or any content of the tour could be considered political you may be contacted by Tourism NI and/or Visit Ards and North Down for additional information.

• Events: should be submitted at least 4 - 6 weeks before they take place, to allow time for Tourism NI and/or Visit Ards and North Down to approve the listing and to give the event listing adequate visibility on the Site. Bear in mind that out of state visitors may be researching things to do well before they plan to visit Northern Ireland so the earlier you supply details of your event, the better visibility it will have on the site.

Recurring events may be highlighted elsewhere on the Site, for instance within a static product entry e.g. farmers’ markets, regular workshops and classes (e.g. weekly cookery courses), regular activity sessions.

Visit Ards and North Down website event criteria

Events that meet the following criteria may be eligible to feature on the Visit website:
•             events which have visitor appeal to those beyond the borough of Ards and North Down
•             events that are held in main tourism attractions, or that encompass a town/village in the Ards and North Down borough as the main venue
•             events that are grant aided by Ards and North Down Borough Council’s Tourism Department
We cannot guarantee inclusion of all events/activities submitted – criteria must be met.

Typically, events that are rejected may include (but are not limited to):

- Charity events which do not have a distinct tie to Northern Ireland’s product or place (e.g. walking, cycling, golf, adventure activities).

- Standard leisure and community events (e.g. fitness events, car boot sales, health/wellbeing talks) or those aimed at businesses. Such events might be best promoted via other avenues such as community event websites/forums.

 - Events of a political or otherwise sensitive nature.

 - Trade fairs (e.g. holiday or wedding shows).

For the avoidance of doubt ensuring that a Business’ entry complies with the above requirements shall be its sole responsibility. Tourism Northern Ireland and Visit Ards and North Down reserves the right to remove your entry if it does not comply the requirements set out beside each category above. Tourism Northern Ireland and Visit Ards and North Down reserves the right to remove any entry at its sole discretion.

To make sure the visitor gets the information they need about the Business, all operators must commit to:

• Provide good quality high resolution landscape orientation photographs in JPEG format, showing the product and experience. Photo must be High Resolution (minimum file size 1920x1080) - up to 9 can be provided. Flyers and logos will not be accepted. It is the Business’ sole responsibility as the data provider to ensure that all necessary permission is in place for persons captured in the images, models and venues.

• Provide good quality short description or teasers that makes someone want to learn more about your business.

• Provide good quality descriptive web copy, outlining the:

- experience offered to visitors

- price and booking procedures

-Avoid using colloquialisms, abbreviations, or acronyms which could confuse some visitors.

- and if a tour where the start/pick up point is

• Up to date contact details so people can get in touch with you via e-mail and telephone.
•  To best sell an event, an entry should: - Contain engaging marketing copy giving a good feel for the nature of the event and what’s involved. One-line descriptions will not help sell an event; 300 – 350 words is considered a good length for web listings.

- If displaying an event, one good quality image depicting the event experience is sufficient for a listing; in the absence of this a venue image can be used. Flyers and/or logos will not be accepted.

- Public transport and car parking details if applicable.

- Content must be suitable for all ages of visitor to the website.

- Any age restriction for the event must be outlined.

- Demonstrate that the event reflects quality products and experiences in Ards and North Down/ Northern Ireland, especially those that are unique to the destination.

- Demonstrate that the event offers a safe and welcoming environment for visitors and caters for both domestic and international visitors.

• Update the content annually*.

A good listing is a great way to promote your business online so it’s important that you keep your content up-to-date and accurate. At any time you can access your listing to update the content via the ‘Product Owner Login’ link at the bottom of the Visit  Ards and North Down website.

*If the entry is not updated annually it will be unpublished until confirmation is received from you that the information currently held is accurate.

Copyright of the Business’ listing (intellectual property rights)

When the Business accepts the terms and conditions in this Agreement, it provides us with a licence to use its listing to promote The Business on the Site, the Discover Northern Ireland Website and on Visit Ards and North Down online social channels and in printed material. By accepting the terms and conditions in this Agreement the Business confirm that it owns the copyright or that it has permission from the owner of the intellectual property used in its entry / listing to use any content it sends us, including text, photographs and videos and the Business confirms that use of such material does not infringe any third party rights.

Sharing your listing (syndication)

By accepting the terms and conditions of this Agreement, the Business gives us permission to share its listing and associated images with Tourism Northern Ireland and other organisations approved by Visit Ards and North Down in its sole discretion so that the Business can gain a bigger audience.

User generated content

Visit Ards and North Down and any syndication partners to whom Visit Ards and North Down may share the Business’ listing in accordance with “Sharing your Listing” may allow users to post comments and opinions about the content on their websites, which may include the Business’ listing. This ‘user generated content’ is extremely popular with holiday makers and its word-of-mouth nature can be hugely beneficial to the Business. The views of users are their own. Visit Ards and North Down does not endorse or take any responsibility for the comments and opinions of users.

By accepting these conditions you hereby give Visit Ards and North Down permission to the “Sharing your Listing” function being switched on in relating to your entry on the Visit Ards and North Down Website or that of any syndication partners to whom Visit Ards and North Down may share your listing.

Editorial Rights on Content

Visit Ards and North Down reserves the right at all times to edit the content you send us to fit our editorial guidelines, which we have developed to get the most from online listings.

Data Protection

Ards and North Down Borough Council manages all information securely, in line with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation guidelines. Please refer to the Council’s Privacy Notice  on www.ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk and the Council’s Visit Privacy Notice  on www.visitardsandnorthdown.com which explain how Ards and North Down Borough Council, (as a Data Controller), collects, uses and protects personal data that it holds. It is the Business’ responsibility to ensure compliance with the above legislation when managing personal information.

When Visit Ards and North Down will Contact You

Visit Ards and North Down may use your details to contact you for the following purposes:

 • If updates to your entry are required

• If we need to discuss the content on your entry

• To invite you to add an offer

 • If there are any changes to this agreement

• To advise you of new opportunities on the Site or on discovernorthernireland.com

Complaints

We are committed to providing high-quality listings to the Site users, so if we receive a complaint about the Business’ listing that we think could be valid, we must take it seriously. First, we will contact you and give you an opportunity to respond. In the interim, we may take your listing down while we investigate the issue. When we reach a final decision, we will either re-publish your listing or remove it from our systems and contact you to explain why.

Your Account and Password

In order to request an entry on the Discover Northern Ireland website and subsequently  Visit Ards and North Down Website you will be required to create an account via Tourism Northern Ireland. You can create an account and update your account via the ‘Product Owner Login’ link at the bottom of the Visit Ards and North Down website.

 You will be provided with, a user identification code, and password as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential. You must not disclose your user identification code and password to any third party. Tourism Northern Ireland have the right to disable any user identification code or password whether chosen by you or allocated by them, at any time, if in Tourism Northern Ireland and /or Ards and North Down Borough Council’s reasonable opinion you have failed to comply with any of the provisions of this Contributor Agreement. If you know or suspect that anyone other than you knows your user identification code or password, you must promptly notify Tourism Northern Ireland.

Uploading of entries

The decision as to whether any entry is uploaded unto the Site lies solely with Ards and North Down Borough Council, and Council does not accept any liability whatsoever in respect of any decision not to upload any entry request made by you. Ards and North Down Borough Council may ask you to amend any entry prior to it being uploaded to the website. It is your responsibility to ensure the accuracy of the information within the request for an entry and to check the entry once it has been uploaded to the Site. Ards and North Down Borough Council does not accept any liability in respect of any errors, omissions or inaccuracies in the material uploaded unto the Visit Ards and North Down Website.

Insurance and Indemnity

To effect and maintain public liability insurance for a minimum sum of £5 million (or as otherwise revised by the Council) in relation to any one occurrence in respect of activity or the Service promoted with a reputable UK insurance company and to provide a copy of same to Council upon request.

Under no circumstances shall Ards and North Down Borough Council be liable to the Business or any third party for any reason relating to this agreement. Ards and North Down Borough Council shall have no liability for any loss or damage sustained by the Business or any third party in relation to the uploaded entry or the service, activity or event advertised and you hereby agree to keep Ards and North Down Borough Council fully indemnified from and against all actions, proceedings, claims, demands, losses, costs, expenses, damages, and liability arising directly or indirectly from:

(a) breach by you of the terms of this agreement and the Terms and Conditions of Use of the Site.

 (b) the upload of the listing based upon the request for upload provided by you to include any inaccuracies in the information provided by you or the breach of any intellectual property rights.

Removal from Website

Listings which are event specific may be removed from the Site after the event or event dates, annual events may remain with ‘event has already taken place’ noted.

 Visit Ards and North Down / Ards and North Down Borough Council reserves the right at any time and at its sole discretion to remove your listing from the Site if your listing is deemed to not meet these terms and conditions, you are deemed not to be complying with any other Visit Ards and North Down terms and conditions or a complaint has been received.

No Partnership

Nothing in this Agreement is intended to, or shall be deemed to, constitute any partnership, agency or joint venture.

Acceptance

You are deemed to accept the terms and conditions set out in this agreement upon returning a completed submission form to Visit Ards and North Down in respect of your entry.

Website:  visitardsandnorthdown.com

Email: marketing@ardsandnorthdown.gov.uk

 Facebook: @visitardsandnorthdown

 Instagram @visitardsandnorthdown

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Updated: 29 June 2022