The practice of closing down parts of the road and railway network over bank holidays and during major sporting events is costing the economy in lost tourism.
VisitEngland chairman Lady Penelope Cobham (pictured) has been speaking to transport providers to convince them not to carry out maintenance during big events such as Wimbledon or bank holiday weekends.
“We are trying to run a first world tourism service for local and overseas visitors, and there are certainly a number of overseas visitors around over Christmas. But we are more than hampered by a third-world service over Christmas,” she told the Telegraph.
“I understand completely the need to do major works but when they say they are going to end working on a particular day, we have to be able to depend on that.”
Lady Cobham said rail operators had in recent months been willing to hear her concerns but “we have a long way to go to really explain, embed into their thinking and forward planning, how this might be done better.
“When you talk to anyone they will see the sense of it, but then it’s then, how do we take this forward for us to help them to help us.
“We have to work harder at VisitEngland at highlighting the importance to the economy and 2.6 million people employed in the sector in England,” she said.
“And actually it’s just not in the interests of the train or other transport operators, PR-wise or in any otherwise, to not consider these opportunities.”
Network Rail has come under fire for overrunning improvement work on the East Coast main line, which left thousands of passengers stranded and King’s Cross station in London closed.
More than 11,000 engineers started on Christmas Eve to upgrade major stretches of the country’s railway network, leaving London Bridge, the West Coast main line and routes through Reading facing disruption until the New Year.
“There’s never a good time to carry out vital maintenance and improvement work to the railway but major holidays are when significantly fewer people travel,” said a spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators.
The Highways Agency has said that 219 stretches of road had roadworks in place during the festive period, though it suspended or accelerated more than 150 projects to help keep traffic moving over Christmas.
VisitEngland has recently been given £10 million in government funding to promote the north of England, in tandem with the Chancellor George Osborne’s promotion of a “northern powerhouse” centred the Pennines.
London has seen a 39% increase in tourism since the recession, while the rest of the England has attracted 16% more, Lady Cobham said.
“There’s a huge amount to do to actually explain to the unwitting potential visitor who could choose to go to Australia or Paris as well as choosing to come to England that there is a lot to experience as well as London,” she said.
The the majority of tourism revenues come from Britons taking domestic day trips, she added.
Out of the £106 billion a year that VisitEngland estimates that tourism generates, £46 billion comes from day visits. Inbound overseas visitors generate an estimated £18.5 billion a year, on a par with overnight domestic holidays.