tourisM Mayor unveils new ‘super agency’ Tom walker


London mayor Boris Johnson has announced the launch of London and Partners – a new “super agency” that will bring together Visit London, Tink London and Study London to promote the capital. Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas,


chair of the New West End Company, has been named as the interim chair with Danny Lopez appointed as interim CEO. Other members of the London and Partners board include ExCeL chief execu- tive officer Kevin Murphy and Grant Hearn, chief executive officer at budget hotel chain Travelodge. Te new flagship agency – a non-profit pub-


lic private partnership – will be responsible for encouraging leisure and business visitors to the capital, along with attracting inward invest- ment and promoting business growth.


O London and Partners will be responsible for encouraging more tourists Johnson said: “London is an extraordinary


place of opportunity and without doubt the best big city to visit, study and invest in. “We have an incredible story to tell and


by harnessing our resources under one roof I believe we can become an even stronger mag- net for tourists, students and investors.”


No government cash for Scilly ferry project peTe haymaN


Plans for a new ferry link between Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will not receive govern- ment funding towards the scheme. Te Route Partnership is leading the proj- ect and comprises Cornwall Council and the


Council for the Isles of Scilly, as well as the Duchy of Cornwall. Around 45,000 passengers use the service


each year and the partnership has already reduced the cost of the scheme by £25m, with Cornwall Council borrowing an extra £5m.


Deloitte reveals growth opportunities peTe haymaN


Deloitte has revealed that an ageing baby boomer gener- ation and emerging middle classes in India and China are set to create new oppor- tunities for UK tourism. Alex Kyriakidis, global


managing director of tourism, hospitality and leisure, said affluent baby boomers have “strong purchasing power” and “are used to travel”. Speaking at the Association


of British Travel Agents’ Travel Matters Conference, Kyriakidis also predicted international tourism from India and China will accelerate. “Te middle classes in the emerging mar-


© CYBERTREK 2011 Emerging middle classes from Asian markets are to boost UK tourism


kets are expanding rapidly and most of the new entrants will come from China and India,” he


said. “Despite their disposable income lagging behind that of the West, international tourism from these two source markets will accelerate over the next few years.”


Twitter: @leisureopps


Time to reduce the red tape burden


kurt janson is policy director of Tourism Alliance


ne of the core plans to come out of the government’s Tourism Policy is a pledge to reduce the level of regulatory


burden on tourism businesses. Tis comes at an opportune time, as a report from the British Holiday and Home Park Association found that – in its sector – small holiday and touring park firms spent 11 per cent of their time on regulatory compliance and 5.5 per cent of turnover on advisers to assist them in this. Tis is an increase of 83 per cent in time and 37 per cent in cost from the last survey in 2001. More worryingly is the fact that,


although the new government came into power with a mantra of “one in, one out” on new regulation, there has been a significant increase in new regulation on the tourism sector – some of which is totally mean- ingless. For example, the new requirement for self-catering cottages to gain Energy Performance Certificates and to show them to customers before they book their stay. Some rebalancing may be on the way.


Tourism minister John Penrose is to launch a task force looking at regulatory burden on the sector, and recommend which reg- ulations should be repealed or amended to reduce the burden on businesses. Te Tourism Alliance has developed a report listing a large number that need to be addressed, which will form the basis for the task force’s activities. Te government has also opened a public


debate on hospitality and tourism regula- tion that needs to be removed or amended. Tis consultation – the Red Tape Challenge – is being conducted online at www.red- tapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Te two-week consultation will gather feedback on what red tape needs to be removed to support a range of different sectors. The consultation on hospitality and


tourism will run between 6-20 May, with results feeding through to the task force for their consideration. We would therefore encourage everyone to take this chance to feed into the process and help increase to ability of UK tourism businesses to grow and provide much needed employment.


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