The UK offers an amazing spectrum of experiences stretching across the whole country with a wide appeal to multiple generations of visitors from all of the world. The Government should consider working closely with organisations such as Walpole to provide promotional support to the UK’s beleaguered tourism industry.
For so long a crucial source of jobs, skills and economic growth, tourism in this country has been crippled by the one-two punch of the pandemic and the removal of the VAT Res scheme. The marked decline in international visitors – VisitBritain’s 2022 forecast estimates numbers only returning to 52% of 2019 levels – has endangered countless small independent brands which rely on tourism for a large portion of their income.
In particular, job losses will be acutely felt in regional communities which are typically home to smaller, highly-skilled manufacturers. The impact on UK plc’s reputation will be profound if action is not urgently done to attract international visitors.
Walpole has led a number of campaigns seeking to celebrate the UK’s tourism industry, notably the ‘Love Letters from Britain’ campaign launched last July, showcasing the best of British entrepreneurialism, creativity and leadership in sustainability around the world via a series of short documentary style films. To build on the existing platform we recommend developing a third series to further showcase the breadth of the tourism experience here in the UK – featuring the hotels across the country, the opportunities around wine or whisky tourism, plus the many cultural experiences that the UK has to offer.
The success of these campaigns, however, is ultimately contingent on backing from policy makers. The Government can play a key role in reinvigorating UK tourism by throwing its full support behind industry initiatives and engaging with sector bodies to arrange high-class visitor experiences.
The Government should work closely with Walpole and other UK organisations on a new marketing initiative aimed to bring back the global HNW tourist. We recommend investment into a series of promotional, multi brand tours that can be marketed to the international community and which show not only the attraction of the UK to the high-end tourist but also the value of the ecosystem. For example we would recommend a Luxury Scotland tour in which international visitors (including influencers and press) can take the Scottish Pullman to Edinburgh and then onto Gleneagles and Macallan. Or a heritage road trip through the countryside of the South of England to Chewton Glen and then to Goodwood as a guest at the venue’s Festival of Speed or Revival weekend to experience the finest British hotels and must attend sporting events in our country’s most beautiful estates.
