Numbers up on international tourists

OFFICIAL statistics released show that in the first nine months of 2017 there were a record 12.7 million visits to English regions outside London, up 4% compared to the same period in 2016.

International visitors spent £6.1 billion across England’s regions during this period.

There were also 909,000 overseas visits to Wales from January to September last year, up 6% compared to the same time in 2016, and visitors spent £337 million.

In Scotland, overseas visits increased 14% to 2.6 million in the first nine months of 2017 compared to the same time in 2016, with overseas visitors spending £1.8 billion.

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August bank Holiday a boost to UK economy

RECENTLY published VisitEngland’s August Bank Holiday Trip Tracker survey shows that 6.9 million Brits are planning an overnight holiday trip in the UK this weekend, bringing an estimated £1.7 billion boost to the UK economy.

The figures show an increase on last year’s results when 5.1 million adults in Britain planned to take an overnight holiday trip in the UK during the August Bank Holiday weekend.

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Latest Discover England fund winner

A NEW tourism project to open up England’s coast has been awarded funding of £1 million from VisitEngland’s Discover England Fund.

The ‘England’s Coast’ project, led by the National Coastal Tourism Academy, will promote the coastline using interactive video technology which allows holidaymakers to create their own coastal itineraries.

‘England’s Coast’ will target German, Dutch and French visitors coming to Britain, and enable them to build personalised itineraries along the North East, South, South West and East coast. It will inspire visitors with a selection of each region's finest coastal locations and activities, allowing them to see destinations and retailers along each route, while also booking accommodation, activities and attractions.

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Gardens continue to grow in popularity

GARDENS and zoos saw the most significant growth in visitors to attractions last year, according to VisitEngland’s Annual Attractions Survey published earlier this month.

The survey, which gathered information from more than 1,500 English attractions, found that historic houses and castles reported a 7% increase in visitor numbers, and country parks a 4% increase. Outdoor attractions performed particularly well, with gardens and zoos showing growth of 8%.

In line with VisitEngland’s Great Britain Tourism Survey results, coastal and rural attractions experienced strong growth of 4% and 5% respectively.

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VisitEngland Awards for Excellence winners

THE prestigious awards, now in their 28th year, celebrate those businesses and individuals who continuously raise the bar of England’s tourism offer. 

The 25 award winners, from Afternoon Tea of the Year to Sustainable Tourism Award, Tourism Pub of the Year to Business Tourism Award, span the length and breadth of the country from Yorkshire to Devon, Warwickshire to Northumberland.

Afternoon Tea of the Year:  Countess of York, Yorkshire 

Sustainable Tourism Award: Battlesteads Hotel & Restaurant, North East 

Business Tourism Award: Warwick Conferences, West Midlands 

Tourism Pub of the Year: The Anchor Inn, South West 

and some of the other award winners . . .

Glamping Provider of the Year: The Dandelion Hideaway, East Midlands

 

Self-Catering Property of the Year: Cottage in the Dales - The Byre, Yorkshire 

Guided Tour of the Year: Shiverpool, North West 

Family Friendly Accommodation of the Year award - sponsored by Family Traveller: Bosinver Farm Cottages, South West 

Bed & Breakfast of the Year Award: St Cuthbert’s House, North East 

Boutique/Guest Accommodation of the Year award: Glazebrook House Hotel, South West

Small Visitor Attraction of the Year: Monkey Haven, South East 

Dog Friendly Business of the Year: Letheringham Water Mill Holiday Cottages, East of England

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The AA has been awarded a contract to run the VisitEngland Quality Assessment Schemes

VisitEngland has announced that the AA has been awarded a contract to run the VisitEngland Quality Assessment Schemes under licence for the next three years.

The AA has more than 100 years’ experience inspecting and rating hotels and guest accommodation across the UK and follows the same common standards used by VisitEngland and the national tourist boards in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The VisitEngland Quality Assessment Schemes will remain separate to the AA’s existing assessment schemes and participants will continue to be able to choose between the VisitEngland and AA accommodation schemes. All current ratings, logos, marques and accolades remain unchanged and there will be no discernible change for participants.

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Eyes Down

THE Civial Aviation Authority (CAA) in partnership with VisitEngland have launched '400ft Britain', a #drone #photography and videography #competition.

In keeping with the national tourism organisation's #OMGB marketing campaign to celebrate amazing 'Oh My Great Britain' moments and experiences, budding drone enthusiasts are invited to submit an image or short video of the British countryside, whether it's the stunning Yorkshire Dales, a sunset over the South Downs or the picturesque Lake District.

Running until 31 January 2017 imagery can be submitted through the simple hashtag #400ftBritain either via Twitter or Instagram.

The competition terms and conditions can be read here: www.400ftBritain.com.

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Britain’s post-Bexit holiday boom

BUSINESS confidence among accommodation providers is at a record high for the summer holidays in a VisitEngland survey. The findings also show that out of 500 accommodation providers, more than half are expecting an increase in visitors following the EU referendum outcome with a particular boost expected for the domestic market.

English businesses are anticipating a strong summer holiday period with 65% of accommodation providers feeling ‘very confident about the summer holidays and 47% reporting forward bookings as ‘very good’ – both record highs for the survey.

Some 40% of accommodation providers and attractions reported increased visitor numbers in the year to date, with a further 30% maintaining performance.

Tourism minister Tracey Crouch said: ‘The number of people enjoying holidays in England is at a record high. With our world-leading museums and galleries, beautiful countryside and stunning coastline, it should come as no surprise that more people are planning staycations this summer. Tourism contributes an estimated £60 billion to our economy every year, so a strong summer season is not only great news for the sector but the whole country.’

VisitEngland Director Patricia Yates commented: ‘It’s a great summer to holiday in England and a fantastic opportunity for the tourism industry to showcase the range of quality tourism products on offer across the country and demonstrate just why our regions should top people’s list as must-go destinations.

Ms Yates said that with the weakened pound, a holiday at home also gave people the reassurance and certainty of budgeting for a domestic trip.

It has been a record-breaking first four months of the year for domestic holiday trips in England. From January to April, Brits took 11 million holiday trips, 8% more compared to the same period last year, and spent £2.8 billon, 22% up on last year.

These figures come on the back of a strong 2015 with domestic holiday trips and spending both up 7% on the previous year to 43.7 million holiday trips and £10.7 billion respectively.

Also in 2015, domestic seaside holiday trips were up 7%, city holidays up 6% and countryside holidays up 12%.

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England reports record-breaking Q1 for domestic tourism

#ENGLAND had a record-breaking first quarter for the amount spent on overnight domestic holiday trips, according to the country’s tourist board.

Visit England says tourists spent £1.8 billion from January to March, up 23% on the same period last year. The number of domestic overnight holiday trips also set a new record for Q1, with 7.3 million visits, up 10% compared to the same period in 2015.

VisitBritain/VisitEngland director Patricia Yates said: ‘This is an incredibly positive start to the year as we continue our #OMGB Home of Amazing Moments campaign in the build-up to summer, encouraging people to explore more of our regions and driving tourism, and its economic benefits, across the whole of England.’ 

The best-ever Q1 figures come on the back of a strong 2015 for domestic holidays in England with trip volumes and spending both up by 7%. Overall, domestic overnight tourism in England across all trip-purposes saw a record-breaking £19.6 billion spent and the highest number of trips since 2012.

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Bidding open for £40 million Discover England fund

VISITENGLAND is now accepting bids for its multi-million pound fund to drive tourism growth across England. The three-year, £40 million Discover England fund was announced by the government last year and was set up to help create a ‘world-class’ tourism offer in England, and to boost in-bound and domestic spend across the country.

VisitEngland has published the criteria for the fund’s first year, which is calling on applications for projects up to £250,000, which can be completed by March 31, 2017. Destinations and businesses of all sizes are urged to submit bids.

The fund will also be used to tackle some of the challenges facing English tourism, and support in-bound tourism, described as one of England’s most ‘successful export industries’.

VisitEngland/VisitBritain chief executive Sally Balcombe said: ‘While London continues to have global appeal, with more than half of international visitor spend, there is a wealth of attractions for visitors to enjoy beyond the capital. Our transport connections don’t always make this exploration easy, and customers now expect to book online, use distributors and comparison websites, and see availability at short notice, so we need to be digitally savvy as an industry to keep ahead.”

www.discoverenglandfund.org


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VisitEngland Rose Award . . . Four for Devon

FOUR Devon establishments have been honoured with a VisitEngland Rose Award this year.   

They are the Beera Farmhouse in Milton Abbot, Tavistock; Higher Wiscombe cottages in Southleigh; The Somerville Hotel in Torquay; and Tor Cottage in Chillaton.

Designed to showcase establishments that provide the warmest of welcomes, one hundred awards were given out to winners across England.

Victoria Hatfield, chairwoman of Visit Devon, said: ‘The VisitEngland Rose Award is a tremendous accolade for any establishment and for #Devon to be honoured with four very worthy winners is a fantastic achievement for these businesses and for the county. Once again, Devon proves we have fantastic tourist accommodation which is recognized on a national level and is among the finest in the country.’

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Wanted: a fairer deal for English tourism; Wales & Scotland get better deals

 REGIONAL tourist boards, the Association of British Travel Agents, and UKinbound are among the organizations that have written to the government highlighting the need for greater funding to promote England as destination for tourists. 

More than 40 representatives from attractions, airports, and tourist boards have signed an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne outlining the importance of VisitEngland and the need for extra funding.

The signatories are calling for an independent fund to be established to improve tourism in England, with a focus on regional counties rather than London.

 The fund would focus on product developments and require £20 million a year to ‘address the serious market failures in the tourism sector’. It is claimed that over four years, the work undertaken as a result of the fund would generate a £1.28 billion spend and support almost 24,000 jobs. 

The letter also highlights how much more funding VisitWales and VisitScotland get from the UK government. ‘While all the home nations benefit from marketing afforded by GREAT and VisitBritain, both VisitWales and VisitScotland supplement this activity with dedicated tourism budgets of over £20 million and £54 million respectively. VisitEngland, on the other hand, receives a core budget of less than £7 million to support the English tourism industry.

‘This is expected to fall below £6 million in the current Spending Review and will be made even worse by VisitEngland no longer receiving Regional Growth Fund money, which between 2012 and 2015 was successful in generating over £1.5 billion spend and supporting or creating over 29,000 jobs – a devastating double setback compounded further by the end of the South West and Northern Tourism Growth Funds.

‘English tourism in our view is being unfairly overlooked with real concern that VisitEngland may soon be forced to end its business development and domestic marketing activity entirely.’ 

It adds: ‘Chancellor, we ask you on behalf of English tourism, its businesses, and its destinations, to review the low funding and damaging imbalance that English tourism currently experiences when compared with VisitWales and VisitScotland.’

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Don’t slash tourism board budgets, UK government urged

THE British Government is being urged to confirm the importance of the UK’s national tourism boards and the vital role they play in the inbound tourism industry. 

Concerns are growing within the tourism industry that this year’s Comprehensive Spending Review will see the axe fall heavily on non-protected departments such as the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, resulting in drastic cuts for the UK’s national tourism boards.

UKinbound chief executive, Deirdre Wells has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, calling on the Treasury to acknowledge the importance of tourism boards. A survey of the organization’s 350 members found that 80% say that support from local or national tourist boards was important for their business.

Marketing strategies such as VisitBritain’s GREAT campaign coupled with strong product development at local level were frequently cited as factors supporting the success from which the inbound industry has benefited in recent years.

The letter from Ms Wells to Mr Osborne, said: ‘#VisitBritain and #VisitEngland are recognized universally as having done an enormous amount to deliver the step- change in visitor numbers to the UK which we have seen in recent years. However, both organizations suffered cuts in the previous spending round which resulted in core activity, such as business support and the overseas network, being reduced dramatically.

‘There is a real concern within the industry that a further cut in this spending round – to an already modest budget – will have a serious impact on vital services. Every extra visitor who comes to the UK brings an additional £630 in export earnings and contributes £216 to the Exchequer. Therefore, supporting VisitBritain and VisitEngland in growing this industry further is sensible economics.’

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UK’s visitor attractions drive £3.8 billion domestic spend

BRITAIN’S visitor attractions generate annual domestic spend worth £3.8 billion according to research by VisitEngland. It means attractions such as theme parks are one of the main reasons for Brits choosing to holiday at home. 

The second highest revenue-generating domestic activity is the live sport event, (they ploughs £3.2 billion a year into the UK economy), while spend on live music events and festivals comes a close third at £3.1 billion annually.

‘This research is welcome news, confirming the huge contribution that the variety of leisure activities in this country make to the economy,” said VisitEngland chief executive James Berresford. 

Long walks and hikes generate £1.8 billion spend annually and cycling and mountain biking contributes £520 million.
Other domestic revenue generators include visiting historic buildings (£2.2 billion), city sightseeing (£2 billion), visiting art galleries and museums (£1.9 billion), attending the theatre (£1.8 billion), and visiting zoos and aquariums (£1.4 billion). 

The domestic tourism industry has seen a record-breaking January to June period this year, with the number of trips taken in England up 14% year on year and spending up 13%.

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Tour de France boosts Yorkshire tourism

FIGURES from VisitBritain have revealed that Yorkshire saw significant benefits from hosting the Tour de France last year.

Some 2.5 million people turned out to watch the Grand Départ of the world’s biggest bike race in July last year. 

VisitEngland reports that tourists had spent £380 million in Yorkshire in the 12 months to June, up by 45 percent on the previous year. 

The number of visitor nights spent in Yorkshire during the 12 months also increased by 18 percent to 5.3 million.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/43262582@N07/5639623561">Almscliffe Crag Sunset</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/">(license)

English attractions see visitor numbers continue to grow

VISITS to England’s attractions increased by four percent in 2014, according to #VisitEngland’s Annual Attractions survey. The figures continue the growth seen in 2013, highlighting the contribution they make to the tourism industry and the country’s economy … worth £106 billion in total. 

The East of England saw the biggest rise – up ten percent year-on-year – but the North-West (up six percent), North-East (seven percent), West Midlands (five percent) and the South-East )six per cent) also saw above average growth.

The #TowerofLondon remains the most visited attraction in the paid-for category with 3.1 million visits, an increase of 6.5 percent on last year, followed by Hylands House and Estate in Essex with 1.9 million visits, and #WestminsterAbbey with 1.8 million visits.

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What’s England’s greatest sporting destination?

#VISITENGLAND has launched a search to find the country’s most popular sports destination. It’s asking sports fans to send in their nominations.

By submitting a picture of their “home of sport” – be it the Oval or a village cricket pitch – fans will help to locate the jewel in England’s sporting crown.

VisitEngland’s Chief Executive, James Berresford, explains: ‘As the birthplace of rugby, football, cricket, punting, and the modern Olympic Games, as the home of iconic venues such as Old Trafford, Wimbledon and Aintree, and the host to world-class sporting events, England’s sporting heritage is something that truly sets us apart from other destinations.’

To help find England’s sporting capital, upload a picture of your own home of sport to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #HomeOfSport with a 140-character saying why you think it’s the best sporting destination in England. Approved nominations will be posted at www.englandhomeofsport.com and the senders will be entered into a prize draw to win a selection of sporting experiences.

Entries close on August 31, after which an expert panel will work through the nominations to establish a shortlist of sporting hubs. The shortlist will be open to public vote on September 16, with the destination that receives the highest number of votes announced in October as England’s Home of Sport.

Criteria for the winning destination will include breadth of sporting experiences, diverse and beautiful backdrops, and claims to fame.

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Victorian fashions on show

FIND out more about late 19th century dress and fashions in Britain at Blists Hill Victorian Town, near Ironbridge, when the towns hosts its first Fashion Week (August 4-9).

Highlights include a daily fashion show, dress competitions, decorating hats with feathers and bows and making dolls, and a tour of the town’s wardrobe department.

Blists Hill Victorian Town is one of the ten #IronbridgeGorgeMuseums, which collectively won a Gold Award in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category at the 2015 VisitEngland Awards for Excellence. 

www.ironbridge.org.uk

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VisitEngland reveals strong domestic tourism figures for UK

THE latest results from the Great Britain Tourism Survey (GBTS) reveal a strong performance for domestic tourism in the first quarter of the year. There were 19.7 million trips recorded in #England between January and March this year, the highest number of trips recorded during the first quarter for seven years. 

Expenditure increased by 24 percent in total to £3.5 billion compared to 2014.

The Q1 results are a significant improvement on last year’s figures which dipped due to severe weather conditions and flooding at the beginning of the year.

#VisitEngland’s latest Tourism Business Monitor supports the findings of this month’s GBTS. Almost half of accommodation providers and 56 per cent of attractions have reported an increase in visitor numbers for the year to May.

Looking ahead, nine in ten of the businesses surveyed remain confident about the school summer holiday period.

The early months of the year were characterized by above average weather and a number of high profile anniversaries including the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
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Ironbridge wins gold

IRONBRIDGE GORGE Museum Trust has won the top Gold Award in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year category of the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2015. 

Intended for venues that welcome more than 50,000 visitors annually, it was judged on the overall quality of the experience it provided. 

The ten Ironbridge Gorge museums are spread across six square miles of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, together attracting more than half a million visitors a year. 

The Silver and Bronze awards were won by Chatsworth and the Lost Gardens of Heligan respectively.



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Picture Credit: "Footpath view at Ironbridge - geograph.org.uk - 1013900" by Mick Lobb. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons