The Mole meets Tom Wright CEO Visit Britain
Tom Wright has been at Visit Britain some six years, a period which has seen the organisation undergo significant change, with the British Government having once again slashed the Visit Britain’s budget, just prior to the 2012 Olympics.
Tom told The Mole that VB’s global mission is leading the world to Britain – giving leadership to the marketing of Brian and working to support the industry and develop the British product and offering.
He said that the big shift at VB is developing leadership in developing markets, adding, “We know that the majority of our visitors come from the EU and North America but we recognise the huge importance of developing markets and our role is to provide the market insights and intelligence in those markets.”
“In Asia Pacific, we have increased our spend to 25% of our budget, which is the same as Americas, where we have maintained our investment.”
He said, “We know that Asia is a long term commitment and we also tend not to do short term bursts in market and we also have to develop long term trade and consumer trust and commitment.”
Tom added, “Australia is our No 1 market in the region, with over 1 million visitors per annum and growing!”
“Even with world ups and downs Australia and New Zealand are very stable and resilient markets.”
“We also value these markets more highly in many ways than others because the average length of stay and regional spread is second to none.”
“Aussies get out and about and see much more of Britain than many other markets, having said that though, average duration of visit of the whole world is down, but Kiwis stay an average of 19 days and Aussies 13 days.”
by The Mole
John Alwyn-Jones
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