Visit London urged to spend more promoting attractions outside capital centre

VisitLondon has been urged to commit more resources to promoting tourist attractions outside the centre of the capital.

A report by the London Assembly estimated that London’s total tourism spend is about £15bn a year and supports more than 350,000 jobs.

But it warned that attractions like Hampton Court Palace need to be promoted in order for such areas to reap the benefit of the tourism spend.

Visit London should fund promotion of outer London attractions, include more coverage of the places in promotional material and more information on its website and ensure greater liaison with the outer London boroughs, the Assembly said.

The Assembly said that the tourism body could do more to promote attractions such as Horniman Museum in Forest Hill and the Dulwich Picture Gallery both in south-east London and Syon House and Gardens in Brentford, west London.

Assembly member Dee Doocey said: "Visit London must stop concentrating the vast majority of their resources in a few square miles of central London, so that outer London can start to reap more of the huge economic benefits of the tourist industry in the capital.”

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