Prospects bright on eve of UK trade fair
VisitBritain chief executive Tom Wright has delivered an upbeat message on the state of UK tourism on the eve of the British Travel Trade Fair.
The two-day trade event kicks off in Birmingham tomorrow with 200 international buyers from 18 countries expected to attend.
Wright said the number of visitors demonstrates the “overseas enthusiasm” for tourism to Britain.
“Clearly there is an enormous amount of overseas interest in the UK as a tourism destination and the presence at BTTF of such a strong international delegation suggests that prospects for the industry are very favourable indeed,” he said.
“We are particularly pleased with the high turn-out from emerging – and rapidly-growing – source markets, notably in the Far East, and in central and eastern Europe.”
The UK is currently ranked as the world’s sixth most-visited destination after France, Spain, US, China and Italy with the World Tourism Organisation estimating the UK’s growth rate is 10% – second only to China on 13%.
But Wright described the figures as the “tip of the iceberg” with domestic tourism far outstripping the overseas market.
“The UK’s domestic tourism earnings are four times greater than our overseas income,” he said. “Overall, we are talking about an industry which is worth nearly £75 billion to the national economy.”
See TravelMole later today as BTTF attack government ‘indifference.’
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