toUrism UK cities’ tourism appeal grows


New research published by VisitBritain has found some of the UK’s largest industrial cities have established them- selves as popular destinations for overseas visitors. London and Edinburgh


remain as the two most pop- ular urban destinations, but last year also saw cities such as Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol increase their international appeal. Manchester saw a 15 per cent


growth in visitors last year to 936,000, while Birmingham attracting 732,000 overseas residents. Liverpool also reported a double- digit increase in visitor numbers. Te capital topped the list with nearly 15.3


million visitors according to the International Passenger Survey. Other top 10 cities include Glasgow, Oxford and Cambridge. Visitor num- bers to Scotland remained level with numbers


Te Lowry Centre is one of Manchester’s most iconic tourist attractions


for 2010 (2.3 million), but spending did reach a record £1.49bn when compared with 2010. Wales attracted 0.88 million tourists in 2011


– almost the same number of visitors as 2010 – and Northern Ireland experienced a 5 per cent drop, with 0.34 million visits overall. Details: http://lei.sr?a=l5n7E


Tourism Ireland upbeat despite drop in Q1 numbers


Tourism Ireland remains upbeat about the industry’s prospects for the coming year, despite new figures showing a 1.2 per cent drop in inbound numbers in Q1 2012. Between January and March this year, Central Statistics Office data showed that


Ireland welcomed 1.165 million visitors – down from 1.178 million in the first quarter of 2011. Tourism Ireland chief executive Niall


Gibbons said: “Te results for the first quar- ter of 2012 are in line with expectations.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=J8l0E


Sector worries over border control issues


Tourism Alliance chair Brigid Simmonds has expressed con- cern that strike action and the axing of border control jobs will undermine the govern- ment’s tourism plans. More than £77m is cur-


rently being invested in promoting the UK as a tour- ism destination to overseas markets in a bid to attract an additional 5 million visitors. However, there are plans to


reduce the number of front- line immigration officers by 1,500 by 2014-15. Simmonds said: “Te gov-


It is feared the border control plans will affect the UK’s tourism appeal


ernment is spending more than £77m on marketing the UK as a tourism destination overseas with the goal of gaining 5 million additional overseas visitors who will provide an additional £3bn for the economy.


© CYBERTREK 2012 “It is hard to understand how reducing staff-


ing levels at border control and subjecting visitors to delays will help achieve this goal.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=c0x0l


Twitter: @leisureopps


Border control needs new funding model


KUrt janson is policy director at Tourism Alliance


R


ecently there has been consider- able coverage on the mounting problems with waiting times at the UK’s main ports-of-entry. At


peak periods, it has not been uncommon for visitors to have to wait for up to three hours to be processed by Border Agency staff. Much of this is due to cost cutting within the Home Office where there are plans to reduce the number of front-line Border Agency staff by 1,500. Te problem is that the reduction in


staffing levels within the Border Agency goes against government’s plans to boost tourism. Te government has allocated £77m for VisitBritain to market the UK around the Olympics and it has set a target of attracting 5 million additional visitors who will provide enough revenue to create around 20,000 new full-time jobs. It is increasingly obvious that the reduc-


tion in staffing levels on the immigration desks is already impacting on the quality of service being provided to visitors to the UK. Tis means that there is little hope in waiting times improving as further staffing cuts are made while visitors increase over the forthcoming years. Tis poor quality service will, in turn, made achieving the growth targets for tourism very difficult to achieve as people are increasingly deterred from travelling to the UK. But as I said at the start, this is just a


symptom of a larger underlying issue. Tere is a fundamental problem with the Border Agency – it is required to be self- funding with its revenue being derived the processing of visas. With visitors and immigrants that require visas amounting to less than 15 per cent of all visitors, there is little scope to increase charges without it, resulting in a decrease in visa applicants. What is needed is an overhaul in fund- ing for the Border Agency. How about it being funded through Air Passenger Duty revenue? Tis would be a virtuous scheme in that the costs would be spread wider and the revenue gained would be related to total visitor numbers so as visitor num- ber increase in future, so does the funding to maintain a high quality service.


Read Leisure Opportunities online: www.leisureopportunities.co.uk/digital 9


image: guy erwood/shutterstock.com


image: oleg v. ivanov/shutterstock.com


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