Tourism budget cut risks billions
BRITAIN could miss out on billions of pounds from tourists as rival nations outspend on marketing to lure visitors.
National tourism agency VisitBritain has warned that a cut in its budget next year could leave it struggling to compete with France, Spain, Australia and the US.
The agency expects 42m people to visit Britain annually by 2020 – a 5pc increase on the previous forecast – with at least 35m visitors expected this year spending more than £22bn.
But visitor numbers in January were down on the previous year and a cut to the agency’s budget could mean further declines.
VisitBritain chief executive Sally Balcombe said: ‘There is a lot of competition out there who are spending more than we are. The task is hard. We are going head to head with other countries which have far bigger budgets.’
VisitBritain has around £47.3m to spend this year but fears this may be cut next year. The figure compares to France’s £55.3m, the US’s £127m, Spain’s £65.7m and Australia’s £90m.
Even Ireland spends more than £60m, while Australia spends £20m annually in China alone.
Figures for January reveal that visitor spending was down 11pc and a 2pc dip in tourist numbers to 2.39m.
However, business travel visits increased by a hefty 33pc compared to January 2014, after a dip since the financial crisis.
Balcombe added: ‘We have had a few record years and are continuing to see many positive trends.
‘But it is a competitive landscape. A lot of our competitors are very active and aggressive so we have to remain competitive.’
By increasing its marketing spend, VisitBritain argues that it can deliver an additional £ 4bn of economic growth by 2020. Balcombe said: ‘ Tourism spending drops straight into the economy – 42m visitors will spend £27bn a year here.’
It is already expected that Britain will suffer this year from the weak euro, which recently fell to a seven-year low against the pound, making other European nations more attractive to tourists.
But Balcombe said while the UK looks ‘expensive’ for Europeans, it can respond by targeting the US as American visitors will find the UK cheap due to the current exchange rate with the dollar.