TOURISM


Regional tourism in the UK damaged by high train prices


The head of the government’s tourism agency has warned that the high price of taking the train is putting off visitors getting out to see UK attractions outside of London. VisitBritain chair, Christopher Rodrigues


says that British tourist attractions outside of London will not reap the benefit of this growth unless visitors are able to travel by rail at more affordable prices. “If an American family of four turned


up [to travel by rail], they would get two shocks. One, that our trains are pretty good. Two, that they cost a fortune,” he said. “We don’t have a good rail offering for visitors from abroad and that holds back tourists.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=v5F3t


UK risks missing ‘Russian boom’


A new report – the Russian International Travel Monitor (RITM) – produced by online hotel bookings company hotels.com, claims that while Russia is now the world’s second-fastest grow- ing outbound travel market in terms of spend, the UK is failing to capitalise on it. As evidence it shows


that while Spain, Italy and France have all expanded their share of the outbound Russian market since 2006, that of the UK has shrunk and the country now attracts less than one per cent of all outbound Russian travellers. Using bookings made through its web-


Te need for a separate visa to Europe is putting Russian tourists off the UK


site in the first half of 2013 as a yardstick, European destinations are the most popular for Russians, with the top five being Paris, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona and Prague. London comes in at 9th place. Te report believes that part of this could be due to the limited access to the UK available


Te Giant’s Causeway is a top attraction in NI


Rise in hospitality costs damaging NI’s tourism


Te significant rise in transport and hospi- tality costs are damaging Northern Ireland’s tourism industry, according to the country’s Conservative party. Te latest Consumer Price Index (CPI),


which shows that prices for restaurants, hotels and transport have increased sub- stantially in recent years. Since 2007, prices in the hospitality industry have gone up 21 per cent and transport costs have risen by 24 per cent in Northern Ireland. By contrast, figures for the Republic of Ireland have seen an increase of 0.5 per cent for hotels and restaurants and 5.3 per cent for transport. NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman


Johnny Andrews, said that more needs to be done in order to entice visitors to Northern Ireland. “Te problems facing the tourism industry


are clearly obvious,” said Andrews. “Currently it is substantially more expensive for peo- ple to fly to Belfast rather than to fly into Dublin. Tourism can be the key to Northern ireland’s economy and the industry cannot be expected to operate with one hand behind its back.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=t3n5e


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to Russian tourists, although easyJet has introduced daily flights between Moscow and London this year, in addition to the first direct flights between Moscow and Manchester. It also points out that a separate visa is


required to enter the UK, while Russian tour- ists can visit all the countries in the Schengen Area – including Spain, Italy and France – with a single visa. Details: http://lei.sr?a=N7c2h


Tourism minister hails sector following study


Minister for sport, tourism and equality, Helen Grant, has praised the hospital- ity and tourism sector for its financial contribution to the UK economy and its efforts in striving to create jobs. Grant was speaking at the launch of


an independent Deloitte study – com- missioned by VisitBritain – which found that the tourism sector will grow by 3.8 per cent a year from 2013 until 2025. Tourism: Jobs and Growth also


reported another positive finding in that the industry has been deemed responsi- ble for one in three new UK jobs created between 2010 and 2012. Deloitte’s findings show that the tour-


Tourism will be worth around £127bn to the economy this year


ism economy will be worth around £127bn (US$205bn, €152bn) this year, which is equiva- lent to 9 per cent of the UK’s current GDP, with the sector supporting over 3.1 million jobs. It is thought that by 2025, Britain will have a


tourism industry worth over £257bn (US$415, €307) – catering for almost 10 per cent of UK GDP, with support for almost 3.8 million jobs. Speaking at the launch, Grant also


sought to highlight the efforts of the British Hospitality Association, which has been lead- ing discussions surrounding job creation and sector development through its Big Hospitality


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


Conversation events across the country. “Te commitment of the hospitality and


tourism industry to creating jobs and support- ing young people has been brought into sharp focus by the British Hospitality Association’s Big Conversation,” said Grant. “It has shown the potential of creating


300,000 new jobs by 2020 and 1,000 employers have already pledged to create 5,000 jobs and 15,000 apprenticeships. Tis is truly impres- sive, and it’s initiatives like this which help to realise the potential outlined in [the] report.” Details: http://lei.sr?a=Q4k2G


Twitter: @leisureopps © CYBERTREK 2013


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