VisitBritain seeks feedback from industry on improving Government support for tourism

VisitBritain has been asked to draw up a list of key areas where the Government can act to help boost tourism during the economic downturn.
 
The national tourism agency is now asking those in the industry to e-mail their own suggestions in, which will then be passed on to tourism minister Barbara Follett.
 
A “stakeholder event” will then be held on 11 February giving the minister an opportunity to reply to the comments while VisitBritain will also launch its own strategy plan and the full version of the British Tourism Framework Review.

Caterer is also seeking questions from readers to put to Follett in an upcoming interview so please post a comment to Kitchen Rat or e-mail chris.druce@rbi.co.uk.
 
The move follows the national tourism summit which was held in Liverpool last Thursday and was attended by Gordon Brown, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham and Follett.
 
During the meeting, Brown expressed his support for the industry while Burnham also admitted the importance of UK tourism both in helping promote the country overseas and in creating jobs here.
 
Burnham also conceded the industry believes the Government does not “give enough attention and enough focus to this important industry”, but stressed that he wanted to address this issue head on.
 
See this week’s Caterer for a Viewpoint from VisitBritain executive chairman Christopher Rodrigues.

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By Daniel Thomas

E-mail your comments to Daniel Thomas here.

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