Travel industry leaders should avoid “shouting from the sidelines” and focusing on single issues if they want to influence ministers, according to the government’s former head of tourism.
UKinbound chief executive Deirdre Wells, who was responsible for tourism at the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) until March, said: “I hope to help the industry understand what works.”
In her first media interview since taking over at the inbound tourism association, Wells told Travel Weekly: “What does not work [with government] is shouting from the sidelines.
“People tend to shout in the press and be too ‘single issue’.”
She suggested those in the sector who believe the government fails to understand tourism and its value are wrong.
Wells said: “The outbound industry is hugely important … But the feeling [at DCMS] is the government has to promote UK tourism.”
She argued it is also a mistake to see domestic and outbound tourism as rivals. Wells said: “The upturn in inbound visitors has done more than anything to make the government think tourism is worth supporting.
“Tourism is a success story at the moment … There are opportunities to push the agenda of tourism.”
The sector should be pleased with the Chancellor’s recent announcement APD reform – and the move to a single long-haul rate from next April – she said, describing it as “a real vote of confidence in the industry”.
However, she said industry leaders need to “be realistic about what is achievable”.