New tourism body launched for Britain

TOURISM minister Dr Kim Howells has launched VisitBritain, the merged office of the British Tourism Authority and the English Tourism Council.

The new office, unveiled yesterday, will market England domestically and Britain to the rest of the world. Sir Micheal Lickiss, former chairman of the Southwest Regional Development Authority takes over from current BTA chairman David Quarmby.

Although VisitBritain gives England a marketing budget for the first time in two years, Howells indicated that it is unlikely to receive a cash boost similar to last year’s £20 million.

“The question is always ‘how much more money can we spend?’ not ‘how can it be used better?’” he said.

“Micheal has a great track record of making sure the budget is handled more effectively. This is all about getting a bigger bang for our buck.”

VisitBritain’s first initiative will be an Easter campaign for England. It will be followed by a European campaign in the Autumn dedicated to British cities. 2003 will also see marketing activity four newly identified markets: China, Russia, Poland and Korea.