VisitBritain reveals GREAT return on investment
VisitBritain campaigns have resulted in international visitors spending an extra £800 million in the country in the past year.
This means that every £1 invested in VisitBritain’s activities resulted in an overseas visitor spending £23 in Britain.
Meanwhile, domestic visitors spent an additional £97.2 million in England as a result of VisitEngland’s 2015 ‘Holidays at Home are GREAT’ campaign.
The figures, announced today at the launch of the agency’s 2015-16 annual review, come on the back of a bounce from inbound tourism to the UK in July with more visits than ever before, up 2% to 3.8 million compared to the same month last year, with spend up 4% to £2.5 billion.
It continues a long-term pattern of growth that last year saw a record 36.1 million inbound visits to Britain and spend of £22.1 billion.
Domestic visitors also spent more in England last year than ever before, with £19.6 billion spent by Brits on overnight trips, up 8% on 2014.
Last year visitors from the US, Britain’s most valuable source market, spent £3 billion in Britain for the first time and visits from China, the world’s largest outbound market, increased by 46%, with spend up 18%.
This moved China into Britain’s top-10 most valuable markets, while flight booking data from ForwardKeys showed that bookings from China to the UK were up 24% for October to December.
VisitBritain’s #OMGB ‘Britain, Home of Amazing Moments’ campaign will run with new content this autumn across its major markets in Europe, the US and Australia and the growth markets of China, the Gulf countries and India.
British Tourist Authority chairman Christopher Rodrigues said: "Once again we have shown our ability to build great partnerships, leveraging private sector money to amplify our message and convert the aspiration to travel into bookings.
"We have received £12.7 million cash and in-kind for our international marketing, working with commercial partners including Expedia, Hainan Airlines, STA Travel and British Airways and a further £2 million in-kind from trade partners for Holidays at Home are GREAT."
Tourism Minister Tracey Crouch said: "These amazing figures show that Britain continues to be a world-class visitor destination."
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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