Go boldly forward, tourists told

Britain, which aims to attract 42 million visitors to the country by 2020, has mapped out a plan to get tourists to adventure beyond the beaten track to all its nations and regions.

Inbound tourism to the UK posted a record year in 2015 with 35.8 million visits, four per cent up on 2014 and marking the fifth consecutive year of growth, Joss Croft, Britain marketing director, VisitBritain, told a media and buyers seminar at ExploreGB, held last month at Liverpool’s Arena and Convention Centre (ACC).

'Our forecast shows that growth is set to continue with 36.7 million visits this year, while spending by overseas visitors is predicted to reach almost £23 billion ($32.42 billion), up 4.2 per cent on 2015,' he said.

ExploreGB, VisitBritain’s largest tourism trade event for the year, saw 320 international buyers from 40 countries – including 18 from the GCC region – discuss business with 300 travel trade suppliers from across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

ExploreGB, in its second edition, provided delegates with an insight into the latest inbound travel market trends and what Britain is doing to attract more international visitors to all its nations and regions through its latest global marketing campaigns.

According to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were six million more visits in 2015 than 2010, an increase of 20 per cent. Visitors spent £21.8 billion ($30.73 billion) in the UK last year.

'This means we’re on track to realise our ambition to grow international visits to Britain by more than 20 per cent to 42 million visits by 2020, which could see an additional £4.5 billion ($6.34 billion) in visitor spend. Our aim is not only to get visitors across all our nations and regions but also spread the economic benefits of tourism across the United Kingdom,' said Croft.

So how is VisitBritain – Britain’s national tourism agency responsible for marketing the country worldwide and developing its visitor economy - doing this?

The organisation is investing £10 million ($14 million) of government funding this year to promote the northern regions and encouraging inbound visitors to 'Go a Little Further'. A similar funding is also going into the South and into Scotland.

VisitBritain also launched in February its largest international marketing campaign for 2016 entitled Great Britain ‘Home of Amazing Moments’ to showcase the diversity of experiences, culture and countryside across Britain to inspire people to want to be part of it. In the second phase of the campaign, to be launched in April, visitors will be invited to share the memorable moments they can only experience on a trip to Britain using the hashtag #OMGB (Oh my Great Britain).

With London currently accounting for over half the number of visits to the UK, VisitBritain last year initiated the ‘Countryside is Great’ campaign globally to promote the other regions of Britain and boost visits by highlighting the beauty of the countryside and rural landscape.

According to the organisation, the campaign has boosted international perceptions of the UK’s ‘natural beauty’ as well as resulted in double-digit growth in visitor numbers to some regions.

The UK will continue to promote the diversity of its tourism offer across all its nations and regions through a range of activities, events and celebrations. This will include:

• England’s natural beauty will be on display as it celebrates the ‘Year of the Great English Garden’, timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of renowned English landscape gardener Capability Brown;

• Wales’ ‘Year of Adventure’ will offer adrenalin-pumping activities as well as culinary and literary adventures;

• Northern Ireland will showcase the best of its cuisine with the ‘Year of Food and Drink’; and

• Scotland will put the spotlight on its past, present and future as it celebrates its ‘Year of Innovation, Architecture and Design’.

It will be a big year for the arts with a number of Britain’s musical and literary legends celebrating significant anniversaries and milestones in 2016. Among a host of events to be commemorated this year are the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, which will be marked with events, exhibitions and performances in Shakespeare’s hometown Stratford upon Avon; and anniversaries of Tom Jones, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Lulu, Bananarama, Little Mix and Englebert Humperdinck ,among others.

Adding to a year of art and culture, 2016 will also see the opening of new galleries, performances and productions, with the National Museums of Scotland set to open 10 new galleries displaying collections of science and technology and art and design; and the new Tate Modern scheduled to open its doors in June. In addition, the highly anticipated play ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ will debut on the West End of London in July.

The 2017 ExploreGB will be held in Brighton, UK.

By Bina Goveas