BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY TRADING AS VISITBRITAIN ...

VisitBritain and VisitEngland
Annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 st March 2010
11. DEVELOPMENTS DURING THE YEAR
Strategic Development for Britain
DCMS’s Public Service Agreement target and Departmental Strategic Objectives are the foundation of VisitBritain’s annual Funding
Agreement with the Department. In 2009/10, VisitBritain and DCMS agreed a set of Funding Agreement targets that recognised the
reduced level of funding that would be available to VisitBritain over the current funding cycle.
VisitBritain
2009-10 was a year of major change for VisitBritain, with the many highlights including my appointment as Chief Executive, a new
head office, new corporate strategy and three-year marketing strategy. The organisation also consolidated its position at the heart of
the £115 billion British visitor economy and led the industry in a worldwide multi-million pound drive to promote the affordability of a
visit to Britain and thus counter the effects of the global economic downturn.
A powerful economic driver
Inbound holiday visits to Britain in 2009 rose by 3%, bucking the global trend and partially offsetting the sharp drop in international
business travel. Total visitor spend by international visitors to Britain rose by 1% to £16.5 billion, meaning that while overall visitor
numbers were down, tourism to Britain performed considerably better than tourism to and within the rest of Europe.
VisitBritain was allocated grant-in-aid of £47.2m and drew down £45.8m during the year. A study carried out by Deloitte estimated
that VisitBritain directly and indirectly contributed around £1.1billion to the visitor economy in Gross Value Added terms. This
independent validation of VisitBritain’s role was well received, especially as a separate study by Deloitte forecast that tourism has the
potential to be one of the UK’s best performing sectors over the coming decade. Tourism’s Gross Value Added contribution is
projected to grow at 3.5 per cent per annum, showing faster average annual growth than more recognised industries such as
manufacturing, utilities, retailing and transport. The forecast is to increase spending by overseas visitors to Britain from £16.5 billion
today to £31 billion by 2020. This represents annual growth of 6.5%.
Building the value of tourism to Britain is VisitBritain’s mission. The organisation’s four-point strategy aims to:
1. Inspire travellers from overseas to visit and explore Britain
2. Deliver a global network to support tourism promotion in mature and developing markets
3. Champion tourism and engage industry and Government in support of its growth
4. Maximise the tourism legacy benefits of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Everything that VisitBritain did during 2009-10 was centred around these four key outcomes, thus maximising the impact of public
investment in tourism.
Inspiring travellers from overseas to visit and explore Britain
The year began with the launch of multi-million pound campaigns throughout nearly all of VisitBritain’s markets to encourage the
world’s travellers to take advantage of Britain’s affordability as a destination. Under the banners of ‘See Britain for Less’ and ‘Get
more Britain for your buck’ VisitBritain encouraged consumers to explore more of Britain, taking advantage of special offers from
hoteliers and carriers and supporting the wealth of attractions, accommodation and destinations available in Britain.
The US campaign – run in partnership with Virgin Atlantic Airways – had over 80,000 visitors to the campaign microsite in its first
month and generated thousands of transatlantic bookings as well as winning a UK Travel Marketing Award. The European value
campaign attracted almost one million visitors over six months to its dedicated microsite, directly generating 95,000 actual visits and
incremental spend worth almost £26.5 million. The Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA) campaign was developed in
partnership with BA and was awarded a marketing gold award by the Pacific Asia Travel Association.
VisitBritain ran a worldwide PR drive to reinforce the value message. This included the first ‘global media tour’ for several years,
which saw 70 journalists from 31 different countries meeting up in London either before or after the chance to directly experience
affordable product in every nation and region of Britain. This resulted in numerous articles and features in international newspapers,
magazines and websites, generating interest from potential travellers.
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