10 July 2008

Government under fire over tourism Ã¢â¬Ëœblind spotÃ¢â¬â¢

Industry leaders have welcomed a report by MPs which criticised the government over its approach to UK tourism including budget cuts to VisitBritain.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee report into tourism calls for a rethink of the Ã¢â¬Åâœsimply bafflingÃ¢â¬~ decision to cut resources to the national tourism agency.

Visit London urged ministers to address the recommendations made by the committeeÃ¢â¬â¢s report, published today (Thursday).

The report describes the decision to cut funding for tourism as Ã¢â¬ÅâœextraordinaryÃ¢â¬~.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœIn the case of VisitBritain, no-one has demonstrated that there are inefficiencies in the way it conducts its operationws, and certainly not of the scale to justify the cut in its resources that is proposed,Ã¢â¬~ the report says.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœInstead, we share the view that VisitBritain is generally a well-run and efficient organisation and regard the governmentÃ¢â¬â¢s attempted explanation of its decision as wholly unconvincing.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe decision to cut resources is simply baffling and should be reconsidered.Ã¢â¬~

Visit London chief executive James Bidwell said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœTourism is worth Ã&#pound;16.6 billion each year to the British capital and supports 250,000 full time jobs.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœTourism is also one of the largest industries in Britain and the government needs to take the sector seriously.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœCutting tourism funding, which is criticised extensively in the committeeÃ¢â¬â¢s report, is short-sighted and places London and the UK at a competitive disadvantage to other destinations.Ã¢â¬~

Visit London also condemned the governmentÃ¢â¬â¢s lack of funding to ensure the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe forecast incremental tourism benefit of the Games is Ã&#pound;2.2 billion for London and Ã&#pound;2.9 billion for the UK,Ã¢â¬~ said Bidwell.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWith just four years until London 2012, the government has no funding in place to ensure that the tourism sector can leverage this once in a life opportunity for the visitor economy.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe post-Games legacy depends on our ability to showcase London and Britain to the world and this cannot be done without appropriate funding.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœThe government seems to have a tourism blind spot on how to maximise the Olympic opportunity.Ã¢â¬~

Liberal Democrat shadow culture, media and sport secretary Don Foster said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœThis is a damning indictment of the GovernmentÃ¢â¬â¢s approach to tourism since 1997.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœLack of investment in the industry has led to BritainÃ¢â¬â¢s share of the global tourism market falling.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœMinisters have got to support the industry with more than just words if they are serious about making tourism a key part of the 2012 Olympic legacy.Ã¢â¬~

A VisitBritain spokesman said: Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are delighted that the committee has strongly endorsed the continuing value of VisitBritain's network of overseas offices for the benefit of all parts of the UK, a view unanimously shared by the national tourist boards, Regional Development Agencies, trade associations and private companies who appeared before the committee.

Furthermore we are delighted that the Select Committee has found that there is "a strong case for increasing the resources to VisitBritain" from central Government.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are particularly pleased that this committee has consistently been a strong advocate for the tourism industry and we welcome its call for greater central Government investment in this important industry, especially in order to realise the tourism benefits of hosting the London 2012 Olympic and Paralymic Games.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are also pleased that the report calls for tourism Ã¢â¬Ëœto be taken seriouslyÃ¢â¬â¢ at all levels of Government, including local authorities, RDAs and central government.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe share the committee's desire to increase the number of accommodation providers who are recognised at a national level and we are working to ensure our schemes are accessible, flexible and will encourage still greater participation in the future.Ã¢â¬~

Many of the recommendations of the report anticipate the work currently underway on the forthcoming British Tourism Framework Review, to be published in October.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe are pleased that there is a great deal of common agreement in our thinking,Ã¢â¬~ said the VisitBritain spokesman.

Ã¢â¬ÅâœWe look forward to reading the response of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the committee's report.Ã¢â¬~

by Phil Davies

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Your Comments (5)

TOURISM SPEND HABITUALLY WASTED...

I am delightesd that the Government funded tourism budget has been cut. It's been habitually wasted for years with the same old superannuated 'jobsworths' in charge, in real terms provides very liitle in the way of a commercial return, because it does not have too... The Governemt funded tourism promotion effort is really nothing more than a glorified quango, knowing full well if they do not spend the budget in full this year then it will be cut the following year. So what happens? Half baked tourism initatives are continually launched with no real defined objectives or measurement of the results. It's been going on for years, as we sleep walk the industry into oblivion. In the UK we have a big black hole called the Olympics, it's already soaking up funds like a runaway express train and you would have thought that promotion of the UK is part of the Olympics brief? So my suggestion is the tourism promotion spending is totally cut until after the Olympics 2012 and the domestic market left to promote itself (as it does very well), the international market will always have a problem with the high rate of the UK Pound and the astronomical domestic UK price of gasoline nearly US$2 per LITRE!!! US$140 (one hundred and forty) to fill a small compact auto (Ford Focus) and electricity and natural gas utility bills up by 40% yes forty percent in the last few weeks. This will all trickle through in terms of expensive everything. Simply our politicians and nail-biting Prime Minister ( oh yes he does) in the current deadbeat Government is clearly saying the UK is closed for business, so why bother to promote it? Those government departments and commercal organisations who know me will also know that I am happy to publicly (or privately) debate this and other isssues but so far no one will take up the challenge... perhaps Travelmole will prove them all wrong!?....Tourists, unless you have very deep pockets stay out of the UK, even though mainland Europe who operate the Euro may consider the exchange rate high, consider that you can buy a bottle of good wine including tax for a single dollar on mainland Europe, or in the UK US$10 for a similar bottle.... If you don't believe me have a look at the supermarket Http://tesco.com and compare prices with your own national supermarkets. In the UK we are in for a rough ride over the next six to ten years and what worries me is that very few major commercial brands saw this coming and an even bigger worry is that none of the current senior managemejt are old enough to have lived and operated a business through a recession. Show me a business plan that shows a flat line then a savage drop, which is the reality. Who on earth is going to lend or extend overdraft fascilities on five to ten years of negative income.... Welcome to our world.

By JULIAN BRAY, Sunday, July 13, 2008
no investment, no return

It is a great shame that British forget what a beautiful country they live in. With our spending going down because it had gone out of control (recession), our consciousness going up because we are finally waking up (sustainability), our need for a holiday (and wish for a second one) is tourism not the best thing to invest in? So long as service providers large and small remember that a smile goes a long way, if you are welcome in a place you will come back and tell your friends, if you get value for money you will definitely come back and tell your friends. Come on British people, you may not have sunshine all the time but hey that could be a good thing, who wants to increase their risk of getting skin cancer anyway?

By nathalie roberts, Friday, July 11, 2008
Look at Finland

Note that the Finnish Tourist Board has been cut this year by about 75% in staff terms and their overseas representation has been almost totally withdrawn.

By Gilbert Archdale, Friday, July 11, 2008
It's unlikely to happen

The US is in the fortunate position that it has enough valuable brand name destinations like Las Vegas, NYC, San Francisco, Hollywood and major corporations like Hertz, Marriott, Disney etc. that spend huge amounts to market their services which benefit the overall country. This is not the case in any other country, including the UK. If you close down any other national DMO nobody else will pick up the ball and market the country. In the UK travel to London would very likely not suffer but the rest of the country better not have any illusions about getting the visitor numbers they have now.

By Joe Buhler, Friday, July 11, 2008
Government under fire for not spending money on tourism

Just remember that the USA Govrnmrnt closed the USTTA agency (Tourism Office) over 15 years ago and tourism to the USA accumulated an increase of near 40 %. Pretty sure that it would happen the same thing in England

By ramon alvarez, Thursday, July 10, 2008