Government must put money behind the tourism Olympic strategy

The Government’s consultation on how to wring maximum gains for tourism from the 2012 Olympic Games is flawed by its failure to put any extra money behind the effort, claims the Tourism Alliance.

Policy director Kurt Janson has criticised the Government’s view that the £300m it already spends on funding tourism is adequate for the extra push to reap the full benefits of the Games.

Janson pointed out that, of this £300m, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) only directly controls £54m – a sum that has not changed for 10 years and which includes the costs of running VisitBritain.

By contrast, he said, Tourism Australia had spent £72m alone on the Where the Bloody Hell Are You? TV campaign launched earlier this year.

You can read Kurt Janson’s views in full here >>

By Angela Frewin

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