VisitBritain appeals for more funding
Britain’s tourist officials are making a case for extra funding after a slight drop in visitors.
VisitBritain says it is struggling to compete with "better resourced competition" and to cope with the decline in US visitors.
Although visitor spend for April was up by 13%, visitor numbers have dropped by 1% across the board and by 7% from the US.
Chief executive Sandie Dawe said: "While these latest figures indicate that we’re on track with our 2013 forecast, it’s clear that we’re fighting hard to increase visitor numbers against better resourced competition who recognise that inbound tourism can deliver economic growth and jobs in a tough climate.
"The USA, still Britain’s most valuable source of overseas visitors, continues to struggle. We simply haven’t got the resources currently to arrest that. Like others in the public sector, we’re making a strong case for additional funding through the Spending Review.
"Our GREAT campaign is having a positive impact, but we must not be complacent. We must continue to make further inroads in key inbound markets if we are to increase visitor numbers to 40 million a year by 2020.
"The world travel picture remains highly competitive and our GREAT activity is building good momentum on what it is that makes Britain such a wonderful destination, especially at a time when other countries are dramatically raising their game and their funding."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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