CONTENTS 4 NEWS 4 TOP STORIES


EU workforce exodus; Report highlights heritage tourism; Ripley’s Believe It or Not! shuts in London; Lobbying for tourism sector deal; National Portrait Gallery to host ‘Michael Jackson: On the Wall’


6 NEWS IN BRIEF


Hoseasons sees LGBT clients book more lodges; Stonehenge tunnel plans unveiled; Scottish tourism ‘reassured’ by rates recommendations; VisitBritain Paddington campaign plea


NEWS IN DEPTH 7 SPECIAL REPORT


10 8 FACE TO FACE 9 COMMENT


George Clode reports from a UKinbound roundtable discussing the challenges faced by the trade


International Business Festival director Ian McCarthy talks about travel’s inclusion in the 2018 event and its importance to the world of business


Rob Russell, joint managing director of AC Group, says the UK should invest in tourism to make the most of sterling’s slide


IN FOCUS 10 LONDON & THE HOME COUNTIES 14 SCOTLAND 21


Andrew Cook at London & Partners explains how the capital will cope with the expected surge in visitors over the next eight years


Following the success of its Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, VisitScotland’s 2018 campaign will shine the spotlight on young people


18 EAST OF ENGLAND


Investment in upgraded accommodation and attractions, plus the depreciated sterling value, are buoying tourism in Norfolk and Suffolk


IN THE SPOTLIGHT 21OFFICER & GENTLEMAN


MUSICAL TO TOUR UK Show’s world premiere will take place at Curve Leicester in April 2018


26JUNGLE BOOK ADAPTATION


PREMIERE New adaptation of Kipling classic will tour from January 2018


Editor | George Clode | george.clode@travelgbi.com Contributing Editor | Samantha Mayling editorial@travelgbi.com Editor-in-chief | Lucy Huxley | lucy.huxley@travelweekly.co.uk Account Manager | Sam Chapman | sam.chapman@travelweekly.co.uk Managing Director | Stuart Parish | stuart.parish@travelweekly.co.uk Editorial | 020 7881 4842 | editorial@travelgbi.com Subscriptions | travelgbi@subscriptionhelpline.co.uk Sales | 020 7881 4838 | sales@travelgbi.com


travelgbi.com TRAVELGBI


ISSN 1355-462X Printed by Precision Colour Printing Registered address: Travel Weekly Group, Third Floor, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0AU


© Travel Weekly Group Ltd 2017 October 2017 | TravelGBI 3


LAST WORD Win a pair of tickets to the Cutty Sark in Greenwich plus afternoon tea for two


WIN!


EDITOR’S NOTE


Deal or no deal? W


ith EU migrant workers leaving amid Brexit uncertainty, overcrowding problems in the UK continuing, and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in London closing, there hasn’t been a whole lot of positive industry news over the past few weeks. One potential light at the end of the tunnel, though, is the industry’s bid for a sector deal under the government’s Industrial Strategy. At the end of September, the Tourism Industry Council (TIC) signed off on the priorities to be set forth in that bid. They are: a 10-year tourism and hospitality


skills campaign to drive recruitment; boosting productivity by extending the tourism season year-round; increasing global market share in business visits and events sectors; making it easier to explore the UK; and creating ‘tourism zones’ to build quality tourism products. Not the most glamorous of wish-lists you may think. There’s no “whizzy, sexy” idea like the Google Car on there, as one attendee of the UKinbound roundtable I chaired put it. But, as a government representative at the same meeting said, the government will not be overly concerned about that. Because what they are looking for is an industry-led initiative with ambitious deliverable asks that will benefit the whole sector.


And that’s what this is. Not an all-singing, all-dancing, unachievable pipe-dream, but a clear set of areas which, if addressed correctly, would benefit not just the industry but the nation. The next wave of sector deals will be announced in a white paper this autumn. Keep those fingers crossed.


George Clode Editor


@George_Clode


ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES UK £37, Europe £44, Rest of the World £50 Average net monthly circulation: 12, 194


GROUP


PART OF JACOBS MEDIA GROUP


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28