Government has “tourism blind spot”, says Visit London
10 July 08
This image is available from the Visit London image library
Visit London, the capital’s official visitor organisation, has welcomed the Culture, Media and Sport Committee report into Tourism and urged the government to address its recommendations.
Visit London Chief Executive James Bidwell said: “Tourism is worth £16.6b each year to the British capital and supports 250,000 full-time jobs. Tourism is also one of the largest industries in Britain and the government needs to take the sector seriously. Cutting tourism funding, which is criticised extensively in the Committee’s report, is short-sighted and places London and the UK at a competitive disadvantage to other destinations.”
Visit London also condemned the government’s lack of funding to ensure the legacy of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The forecast incremental tourism benefit of the Games is £2.2bn for London and £2.9bn for the UK,” said Mr Bidwell.
“With just 4 years until London 2012, the government has no funding in place to ensure that the tourism sector can leverage this once-in-a-life opportunity for the visitor economy. The post-Games legacy depends on our ability to showcase London and Britain to the world and this cannot be done without appropriate funding. The government seems to have a tourism blind spot on how to maximise the Olympic opportunity.”
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee report reaches conclusions and recommendations on the state of the tourism industry in the UK, the funding of tourism, opportunities presented by the London 2012 Games, and challenges facing the tourism industry.
Notes to Editors
The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee publishes its Eighth Report in Session 2007–08, Tourism (HC 133) on 10 July 2008. The report can be found in full at the Committee’s website here
The value of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to UK tourism, a report commissioned by Visit London and VisitBritain and undertaken by Oxford Economics was published in September 2007. The report concludes the total potential tourism benefits expected from the London 2012 Games for London range from £1.3bn to £2.2bn and from £1.6bn to £2.9bn for the UK as a whole (including London), depending on the right strategies and investments.
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