Tourism industry attacks VisitBritain cuts

The government has announced that it will cut its funding for VisitBritain by 18% over the next three years, despite industry body warnings that without a modest increase in financing the country will not benefit fully from the 2012 Olympics.

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport said that it would reduce VisitBritain's current grant of 49.6m [pounds sterling] to only 40.6m [pounds sterling] by 2011, following its announcement of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review. VisitBritain expressed disappointment at the decision, highlighting that its funding has already been static for the last 10 years.

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Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of VisitBritain, said: "Global tourism is increasingly competitive and the tourism industry will have to fight hard if Britain is to retain its place in the global tourism league.

"The government has chosen to increase funding for our cultural institutions which form a large part of this country's draw for visitors. Whilst this is laudable, the offer of free entry to museums and galleries will not in itself persuade most international tourists to come to London instead of Paris, New York or Hong Kong.

"This settlement also reduces the funding available to promote England at home and overseas. We will need to become even more efficient in the marketing partnerships we have with the travel industry and the regions and nations to plug the gap this settlement has created."

Industry bodies have also criticised the settlement, with the Tourism Alliance describing the move as "sheer madness".

Ros Prichard OBE, chairman of the Tourism Alliance, said: "This cut in funding means that, in real terms, the government will have reduced VisitBritain's funding by around 50% between 1997 and 2011.

"To do this to a successful organisation that has generated around 10bn [pounds sterling] for the UK economy and 2bn [pounds sterling] for the Exchequer over the past 10 years and supports over 23,000 jobs across the country makes no sense whatsoever.

"To do it in the lead-up to the Olympics when the government's own research shows that there is the potential to generate an additional 2.1 bn [pounds sterling] in tourism expenditure for the UK economy borders on madness."

Nick Varney, chief executive of Leisure Report Operator of the Year, Merlin Entertainments, also hit out angrily at the DCMS following the announcement.

"In the same breath that this government acknowledges the vital importance of the tourist industry to all parts of the UK--injecting over 85bn [pounds sterling] a year into the economy and employing 1.4 million people; it chooses to cut funding to the nation's only vehicle promoting tourism outside these shores. Then justifies this by expecting private industry to fill the financial gap. This decision defies logic and is yet another example of the Government's apparent contempt for one of the jewel industries in the UK's crown," Varney said. "Despite increased competition for the tourist pound from other nations, Visitbritain's grant aid has remained static for 12 years--and now it will have to be spread even thinner--not just in the UK's traditional tourist markets like the US and Europe, but also in emerging markets like China and India where overseas travel is in massive growth phase. Current budgets to promote the whole of Great Britain are already less than those committed for example by Ireland to its own tourist board- but worse are also less than the DCMS' most recently announced funding for the Arts Council, frankly, investment in the Arts and museums is of little value if there is no-one promoting this outside the UK. Yet again it seems we are relying on the 'halo' effect of past activities to maintain the UK's position in the tourist marketplace.

"Visitbritain generates well over 1bn [pounds sterling] of PR and media coverage overseas to drive visitors, highlighting the best of British culture, attractions and entertainment--with all the knock-on benefits this brings--including countering, where necessary, negative attitudes generated by perceptions of high costs in the UK and safety issues.

"Now, with the run up to 2012, there has never been a better time to invest in UK tourism--and I would urge Mr Purnell and Mr Brown to think again--and for once to show all of us in the UK tourist industry that they understand and appreciate the vital role we play in the UK economy," he concluded.