Pictured: BTA chairman Steve Ridgway
An extra £872 million in visitor spending was generated across the UK in the last year, new figures from national tourism agency VisitBritain/VisitEngland reveal today.
This means for every pound invested in the organisation, £20 of additional visitor spend was generated for the economy.
The figures, revealed in the organisation’s 2016-17 annual review, come on the back of strong growth from inbound tourism.
A record 23.1 million overseas trips to the UK were made in January to July, up 8% on the same period last year, with visitors spending 9% more at £13.3 billion.
VisitBritain forecasts that overseas visits to the UK will increase 6% to 39.7 million this year with spending up 14% to £25.7 billion.
Domestic overnight holidays in England rose 7% to a record 20.4 million with visitors spending £4.6 billion, up 17% – also a record.
The 16% fall in the exchange rate was making visiting Britain even more attractive but had impacted the overseas marketing budgets quite heavily – despite this, the organisation had delivered for British tourism, according to BTA chairman Steve Ridgway.
The former chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, who is leading the tourism industry’s bid for a sector deal under the government’s industrial strategy, said the industry was of growing importance.
“Tourism is an economic powerhouse, worth £127 billion annually to the economy and a job creator right across Britain,” he said. “Two and a half times bigger than the automotive industry, employing three million, tourism is one of our most successful exports and needs no trade deals to compete globally.
“Tourism is a fiercely competitive global industry and you cannot just build a strong, resilient industry on a weaker currency.
“We must continue to invest in developing world-class tourism products, getting Britain on the wish-list of international and domestic travellers. And we must make it easy for visitors to make that trip.”
Ridgway said that with a sector deal the UK tourism industry had the potential to more than double in value to £268 billion within a decade, increase employment to 3.8 million and boost productivity.
The tourism sector deal bid, now submitted to the government for negotiation, aligns the industry on four priorities which are:
• A 10-year tourism and hospitality skills campaign to boost recruitment, skills and long-term careers providing the industry with the workforce it needs;
• Boosting productivity by extending the tourism season year-round and increasing global market share in the business visits and events sector;
• Improve connections to increase inbound visits from more markets by 2030 by making it easier for overseas and domestic visitors to not only travel to the UK but explore more of it;
• Creating ‘tourism zones’ to build quality tourism products that meet visitors needs and expectations, extending the tourism season and fixing localised transport issues to improve the visitor experience.
• A £40 million, three-year Discover England Fund, launched by government in 2015 to develop world-class bookable tourism offerings, had spurred innovation and collaboration across the industry, Ridgway added.
The fund has supported 20 pilot projects in 2016-17 and this year a number of large-scale projects of more than £1 million, with six announced to date.
Ridgway said that the organisation had also continued to build partnerships to amplify its message and convert the aspiration to travel to Britain into bookings.
It had secured £20 million cash and in-kind for its international marketing, working with commercial partners including Expedia, the Premier League and British Airways and more than £2 million in kind from retail activities enabling product suppliers to reach international customers.
Tourism minister John Glen said: “Tourism contributes billions to the UK economy, supports millions of jobs and is the lifeblood for many communities across the country.
“We have seen record-breaking inbound visits and spend this summer, which is testament to our world-class attractions and the innovation of our tourism industry.
“Internationally we are performing strongly in a hugely competitive market and I will continue to work closely with the sector to maintain growth, get the best possible deal as we exit the EU and retain the UK’s position as the must-visit destination.”
Last year set a record for inbound tourism to Britain on visits and spend with 37.6 million visits, up 4% on 2015 with visitors spending £22.5 billion, up 2%.