touRism


Entering a year of opportunities


james BeRResfoRd is chief executive of Visit England


Brits to ‘escape’ Royal Wedding Tom wALkEr


A report by hotels.com sug- gests that while the Royal Wedding will attract inbound tourists to the UK, tens of thousands of Britons are planning on taking a foreign holiday during the week. According to activity on the


T


he year 2011 brings with it many opportunities for domes- tic tourism. Spring-time alone promises us a Royal


Wedding and a double bank holiday, and if that wasn’t enough we have the greatest show on earth, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a Diamond Jubilee and a whole host of major events right around the corner. Marketing England during this time has never been more excit- ing but – and there’s always a ‘but’ – we, like many other publicly funded bodies, are having to cut our cloth to accommodate the budget reductions. Naturally, we are looking at ways to


supplement our budget and to maxi- mise opportunities for the sector. Tis is why we have recently submitted a major bid to the Regional Growth Fund, the new £1.4bn, three-year fund that will operate across England to stimulate private sector led sustainable economic growth and employment Any budget received from the Regional


Growth Fund would be used specifically towards a three year national marketing campaign, in partnership with local areas and the private sector to inspire Brits to take more breaks in England. As you know – tourism creates jobs – fact! We believe that we can help boost local economies with a targeted and inspirational market- ing campaign that grows tourism locally and improves the quality of life in our com- munities throughout the country. Last year, we launched England’s first


tourism strategy for 10 years and this remains our blueprint for growth. In the Spring we will be announcing action plans for various areas of the industry including business tourism, sustainable tourism, sea- side tourism and in addition a new national marketing strategy. Te industry maybe facing challenges but


our visitor figures are strong, the staycation is certainly standing the test of time and with fabulous new hotels and attractions opening, wonderful festivals and events throughout the year, I for one, think that this really is the time to be in England.


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hotels.com website, visitors from the US seem the keen- est to experience the Royal Wedding with searches for London currently up by 189 per cent compared to the same period in 2010. Searches are also up in Japan and France - by 117 per cent and 124 per cent respectively. But hotel operators in the capital hoping to


Inbound and outbound tourism is poised to benefit from the wedding Alison Couper, global communications


cash in on the week might lose out on domes- tic business, as searches for accommodation abroad on hotel.com’s UK site for the week ending 29 April are up by 212 per cent com- pared to last year’s bank holiday week.


director at Hotels.com commented: “The Royal Wedding is a win-win for inbound and outbound tourism, placing London in the spotlight for overseas visitors and Brits able to take advantage of the extra holiday to enjoy a dose of sunshine.”


Lincolnshire agency to call in administrators Interim chief executive Marc Etches said:


pETE hAymAn


Visit Lincolnshire has announced that it will be forced to call in adminstrators in February if it is unable to source sufficient funding, aſter Lincolnshire County Council decided to axe future support for the tourism agency.


“As a direct consequence of the loss of pub- lic funding – most recently from Lincolnshire County Council – Visit Lincolnshire’s Board has made a very difficult decision to begin the process of appointing administrators.”


Edinburgh Airport unveils new masterplan pETE hAymAn


Edinburgh Airport has unveiled a new masterplan that is designed to help guide the future development of the site over the coming years. Te airport plans to consult


with local residents, commu- nities and businesses to ensure its plans help to encourage eco- nomic growth in Edinburgh and Scotland as a whole. Plans for the construc-


tion of a additional runway at Edinburgh Airport have been pushed back and will not be considered before 2020, according to the document. Te publication of the masterplan comes as


Edinburgh Airport is eyeing up future growth with its new masterplan Brown has met with Edinburgh Airport man-


it was revealed that Scottish transport minister Keith Brown will invite airport operators to dis- cuss how to deal with winter weather.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital


aging director Kevin Brown to develop a ‘winter resilience action programme’, to keep Scottish airports open in times of severe weather.


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2011


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