Tourism & the Visitor Economy

The luxury sector is a key driver of inbound tourism and plays a vital role in the appeal of the UK to international visitors. In 2022, Walpole published What It's Worth: Enabling The Return Of The £30bn High-End Tourism Sector (the Walpole Tourism Report), examining the value of the HNWI visitor economy and outlining the steps needed to keep the UK competitive.

The Walpole Tourism Report

This report found that high-end visitors:

14x

High-end visitors typically spend 14 times more than average visitors

£30bn

Which equates to £30bn in economic value

£1 spent by those staying in high-end accommodation in the UK generates £8 of value in other industries, such as culture, entertainment and luxury shopping, which in turn supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK. Walpole supports the growth of the tourism and visitor economy through our work with Government departments, the GREAT Campaign and our wide range of partners. We advise Government and others on promoting the UK abroad, and undertake trade missions overseas to encourage high spending international visitors to come to the UK.

Walpole is calling on the Government to

01

Introduce a new, reformed, digital tax-free shopping scheme for Great Britain to unleash a tourism and shopping boom

02

Reform visitor visas to make entry into the UK as frictionless as possible

03

Reduce Sunday trading restrictions in London’s international centres

04

Reform working visas to address the hospitality workforce shortage

05

Introduce a new government-backed marketing initiative to drive international visitors

Find out more about our work

Contact the team

Other policy areas

1

Tax Free Shopping, Taxation & Regulation

2

Employment, Skills & Training

3

Tourism & the Visitor Economy

4

Sustainability

5

IP & Selective Distribution

6

European Trade

7

Global Trade

Walpole Insights

Walpole quoted in DCMS Select Committee tourism report

25th October 2022