Today we launched our annual review, announcing that international visitors spent an additional £1.26 billion between April 2021 and July 2023 as a result of our international and domestic marketing activity. For every pound invested in us, visitors spent an additional £15 in Britain. These figures were announced at a launch event earlier today, outlining priorities and activities to support the sector and grow the visitor economy.
VisitBritain’s latest inbound tourism forecast estimates £32.5 billion will be spent by international visitors in the UK this year, up 5% on 2023, and up 14% on 2019. Looking at visits to the UK, 38.7 million visits are forecast, up 2% on the 38.0 million seen in 2023; however still 5% shy of 2019 levels.
Other key achievements include:
- At least £7.6m in additional funds generated from VisitBritain and VisitEngland activity.
- An additional £47 million in sales in 2022/23 through our work with the international travel trade
- £20.9 million in direct return from the VisitBritain Business Events Growth Programme from 2018 to 2022
- 33 Local Visitor Economy Partnerships accredited, simplifying the regional structure for English tourism to grow sustainable local visitor economies.
- England Business Events referred 374 new requests for proposals to English cities and suppliers, worth a potential £269.2 million in delegate spend.
We outlined our priorities for the year ahead - to drive a thriving tourism industry, creating economic prosperity across Britain. Plans include using the powerful pull of screen tourism and the booming set-jetting trend to boost inbound tourism. Our upcoming ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign will put filming locations and associated visitor experiences centre-stage, telling the story of Britain’s regional diversity to drive visits and spend across the regions.
Partnerships have been an underlying theme for VisitBritain/VisitEngland in 2023/24 and will continue to be at the heart of our work in the coming year. VisitEngland will continue our work with Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs) and Destination Development Partnerships (DDPs) to unlock growth for the benefit of visitors, industry and communities. We will continue delivering our targeted support to small and medium enterprises to help them grow and develop their businesses and reach new markets.
We look forward to working with you all over the coming year and helping the British tourism industry grow and develop.