Maria Miller today launched a tourism partnership strategy for Britain which demands the travel industry and the govt, along with key private and non-private sector bodies, to unite behind an extended-term ambition for growth that might see Britain welcome 40 million overseas visitors by 2020, spending £31.5 billion and supporting an extra 200,000 jobs around the country.
Tourism is an industry that already employs 2.6 million people a year – supporting one in twelve jobs within the UK. Ago two years a 3rd of all new jobs created were in tourism. And tourism offers jobs across all skills levels and age ranges, particularly offering opportunities for youngsters – 40% of these employed in tourism are under 40.
International tourism is already an industry at which Britain competes well. Last year Britain welcomed 31 million international visitors who spent £18.6 billion – a record amount. The purpose of this partnership strategy is to deliver an extra 29% growth in visits by 2020, that increase would deliver an extra £8.7 billion in currency exchange earnings (real terms).
The growth strategy is built around four key objectives:
* building on Britain’s improved international image
* increasing engagement with the travel trade
* broadening the product range on offer for inbound tourists
* making it easier to get to Britain.
VisitBritain’s GREAT activity for 2013/14 will seek to preserve the attention and image boost created by London 2012. The campaign will target strongly performing growth markets, Brazil, China, India and the Gulf at the side of established markets USA, France and Germany.
Over the last two years, VisitBritain’s marketing programme has directly contributed £900 million to the united kingdom tourism industry, a return on investment of 18 to one. VisitBritain has to date secured £24 million in match-funding from the non-public sector, doubling the govt. investment.
And today VisitBritain is announcing a £2 million, two-year partnership with Emirates to advertise Britain overseas. The deal will include a mixture of selling in kind and cash payments. Emirates cover an infinite network of routes and destinations across South East Asia, Australia, India and the GCC and offer regional gateways across Britain.
The GCC region now signifies great potential for inbound visits to Britain. By 2016 we forecast that 700,000 visitors could be welcomed representing a 32% increase. As component of the expansion strategy the organisation announces its new regional hub in Dubai in order to enable it to succeed in around the GCC including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Jeddah, Kuwait City and Qatar.
VisitBritain – that’s already on the forefront of partnership working – will analyze creative ways that existing resources, platforms and promotional material can be utilized by other organisations. This is often expected to incorporate private sector partners and public diplomacy teams in source markets similar to Mexico and South Korea.
Reflecting the responses from the consultation, the tactic reiterates the significance of commercial tourism and the ability of major events to extend visitor numbers, VisitBritain will build at the work already being conducted on this area – particularly in supporting major event bids, and using its overseas network to present key insights and trade engagement.
Maria Miller MP, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport said: “Tourism is central to the Government’s economic growth strategy. It’s worth £115 billion to our economy a year and we have to ensure we retain a competitive edge and may compete with other destinations around the globe. With the nice campaign we’re selling the suitable of england, building on strengths to enhance tourism income right around the country.”
Chairman of VisitBritain, Christopher Rodrigues added: “There are few British industries as strong as travel and tourism, and few have such growth potential. The success of our travel industry not just helps the economy, but is essential to Britain’s image and its trading power all over. There’s no better time for us to capitalise at the increased interest there’s in coming here and deliver a Golden Legacy for Britain.”
President of Emirates airline, Tim Clark, commented at the partnership: “Emirates’ partnership with VisitBritain underlines our commitment to supporting inbound tourism into the rustic. Emirates injects over £368 million once a year into the local economies of the six gateways we operate from and in 2012, we carried almost 1.8 million visitors into the united kingdom, so this partnership is a natural extension of bolstering the benefit of our Dubai hub to seamlessly connect travellers from South East Asia, Australia, India and the center East to world-renowned attractions in Britain.”
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