VisitBritain review: maximising tourism’s potential

With the UK on its way out of the recession, promoting the British brand is more important than ever, as shown by VisitBritain in the latest review of its performance for 2008/2009.

European countries still provide the bulk of visitors, with France, the Irish Republic, Germany, Spain and The Netherlands being the top five markets in terms of number of tourists coming to the UK. But the US also has a lot of importance, accounting for almost 3 million visits in 2008 (ranking as third-largest market by volume) and coming first in terms of spend, with £2.2m spent last year, according to VisitBritain.

Over the course of the year, VisitBritain targeted all markets with specific marketing and advertising campaigns to boost the number of visitors, but also to build on the value of the Britain brand as an investment for future tourism growth within the country.

VisitBritain also did a lot of work for the London 2012 Games, starting in Beijing last year, by leading a delegation to the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, and again at the Handover Ceremony in The Netherlands, which offered a further opportunity to promote Britain in advance of the 2012 Games in London.

These activities are but one aspect of VisitBritain’s remit. As the national tourism agency – tasked with making sure that the potential for wealth and jobs creation in this sector is recognised by decision-makers in government – VisitBritain aims to defend the interests of the tourism industry and work against the hurdles to future development and growth.

Currently, VisitBritain is specifically concentrating on five different priorities: easier and cheaper visas, the development of sustainable tourism, improving conditions for hosting the 2012 Games, further investment in the transport infrastructure, and taxation and finance as a hindrance to innovation and growth.

All of these areas of work should benefit accommodation providers, as well as the tourist industry as a whole.