ASLIDE in the UK’s share of the worldwide business tourism market has been blamed on growing overseas competition and London’s lack of a major conference centre.
The Business Tourism Forum, a travel industry working group set up by the Government in 1997, claims theUK’s share of business tourism events and expenditure has fallen from 9.5% in 1983 to 6.6% in 1996.
Chairman Michael Hirst said: “More facilities are being offered elsewhere and more destinations are opening up as business people venture further afield.”
He claimed London needed a conference centre big enough for 5,000 delegates if it was to compete with rival destinations like Berlin, Tokyo and New York.
However, he admitted the project would cost at least ú150m – some of which would have to come from the Government – and take at least a decade to complete.
The BTF has just released a report called Business Tourism Leads the Way, which calls for a coherent national strategy to halt the decline in the UK’s share of business tourism.
The group is calling for existing facilities for conferences, exhibitions and events to be evaluated, and for research on what facilities might be required in the future.
It also wants the government to offer investment incentives like tax breaks, and to change lottery rules so that money can be allocated to business tourism initiatives as well as leisure ones.
The BTF claims that business tourism is currently worth around ú12bn a year to the UK, but believes this could rise to ú16bn by 2010.
Hirst said: “Travel is a very resilient part of business activity. The UK gets a lot of inward investment, and when European, Americans and Asians have businesses here, they have to come to visit their UK regional headquarters.”
In the spring, a new body called the Business Tourism Partnership is being set up to implement the BTF’s recommendations.
This will include around 16 industry and government representatives.
Hirst said the BTF’s findings will be incorporated into a government tourism strategy document that is due for release in February.