National tourism agency VisitBritain is launching a three-year marketing campaign during 2007 to attract North American travellers to Britain.
The campaign, to be unveiled on 22 February, aims to present Britain in a dynamic light and will urge international visitors to stay longer and spend more while they are visiting the country.
VisitBritain has found that the North American market has not fully recovered since 2001 and aims to draw tourists into the country by promoting contemporary attractions alongside the traditional and historical sights Britain is renowned for.
VisitBritain chief executive Tom Wright said: “We must explore ever-more creative means of attracting them in an increasingly competitive global tourism environment.”
He attributed VisitBritain’s marketing activities to generating an average return on investment over the past three years of £44 in inbound visitor spending for every £1 invested by the Government. However, he urged the Government and the commercial sector to continue to make long-term investments in order to fully realise the potential of the visitor economy.
During 2006 overseas guests visiting Britain spent £15.4b while in the country - an 8% rise compared with the same period in 2005. The number of visitors to Britain also rose by 7% in 2006 compared with the same period in the previous year, according to provisional data from the Office for National Statistics.
Wright added: “Despite the challenges Britain faced in 2006, this is a strong result and another step forward in achieving our ambition to raise the value of Britain’s £74b visitor economy.
“The inbound tourism industry is a vital component of Britain’s national economy. International consumers spend over £15b ‘buying’ British tourism – that’s more than they spend buying crude oil, vehicles, or food, beverages and tobacco from us."
By Nikki Preston
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Source: mad.co.uk