Best of destination Britain on show to top travel buyers as VisitBritain leads China trade mission

Thursday, Nov 20, 2025 0

VisitBritain is gearing up to host its ‘Destination Britain China and Northeast Asia’ (DBCNEA) trade mission to China to grow inbound tourism and drive economic growth with British tourism suppliers set to show top buyers why Britain is the destination to visit now.

Taking place from 26 to 28 November in Chengdu, China, the three-day trade event sees dozens of tourism industry suppliers and destinations, many of whom are attending the event for the first time, meet to do business with about 90 top buyers from China, Hong Kong (SAR), Japan and South Korea, with trade media also in attendance.

More than 2,000 pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings are taking place, alongside networking events and seminars from destinations, showcasing the latest products and experiences on offer. International buyers will have the opportunity to learn about Britain’s premier export-ready tourism products and its competitive visitor offer, broadening travel itineraries to drive visitor spending across the nations and regions.

VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates, who is leading the trade mission to China, said:

“This major trade mission brings our very important and highly valuable China and Northeast Asia markets together with British suppliers to do business, shining the spotlight on the fantastic products and experiences on offer and making sure those are sold in international markets.

“While we have seen a relatively slower recovery and build back from China and Northeast Asia compared to the overall long-haul average, the longer-term trajectory is encouraging, underscoring the importance of this event with our trade missions a proven catalyst for business.

“Building product and destination knowledge also broadens travel itineraries so visitors explore more through our regional gateways, spreading the benefits of visitor spending across our nations and regions.

“The size of our delegation shows the enthusiasm from tourism suppliers to do business across these important markets and to hear first-hand from buyers on the motivations driving outbound travel as well as trends in digital tools and booking platforms. We are looking forward to showcasing our warm welcome as well as all the great reasons to book a trip right now.”

Tourism’s importance in building cultural connections and positioning the UK as a welcoming, vibrant, culturally diverse destination that people want to visit, is also in the spotlight.

Suppliers joining the trade mission include hotels, visitor attractions, transport providers, retailers, tour and sightseeing operators spanning the length-and-breadth of the nations and regions.

Destinations including Visit Lake District, Cumbria, Marketing Manchester, Visit Peak District & Derbyshire, Visit Shakespeare’s England, Visit York and Visit West are attending, highlighting their respective products and experiences. VisitScotland and Tourism Ireland are also joining the trade mission.

VisitBritain’s teams in market will also be running seminars and networking events to support tourism suppliers to engage and do business with trade from across China, Hong Kong (SAR), Japan and South Korea, providing insights on market and consumer trends.

The trade mission comes as VisitBritain continues to roll out its global ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ screen tourism campaign. The campaign is harnessing the powerful draw of film and tv locations to inspire more visitors to choose Britain, discover more and stay longer, driving visitor spending into local destinations. VisitBritain’s research shows that more than 9-out-of-10 potential visitors to the UK are keen to visit locations used in filming and seen-on-screen during their trip.

Spending by visitors from China, Japan and South Korea, when combined, is forecast to be worth £1.4 billion this year to the UK economy, with an average visitor spend from these markets of £1,528 per visit, more than double the all-market average spend of £818.

Looking ahead to 2026, 667,000 visits are forecast from China to the UK, up 28% on the estimate for this year, worth £1.3 billion to our economy. Visits from Japan are forecast to reach almost 300,000 in 2026, up 23% on this year’s estimate while 219,000 visits from South Korea are expected, up 21%.

As well as its DBCNEA trade mission, VisitBritain continues to work closely with industry and partners in market to promote the outstanding tourism offer and experiences that visitors can only have in Britain.