VisitBritain ‘outperforms government targets’

International visitor numbers to the UK rose by 8% last year, with spending up by 9%, new figures show.

National tourism agency VisitBritain generated an average return on investment over the last three years of £44 in inbound visitor spending for every £1 from the public purse.

This meant it out-performed its Government-set target of 30:1 – with some campaigns exceeding this figure.

The statistics are revealed in VisitBritain’s annual review for 2005/06 which showed that by March 2006, the VisitBritain family of websites had received 11.04 million visits.

The organisation’s England marketing division – through its Enjoy England campaigns and initiatives – has been responsible for additional tourism expenditure of £243 million by domestic visitors to England: a return on investment of 20:1, according to the report.

VisitBritain markets the UK in 36 international markets and contributes to the country’s £74 billion visitor economy in the face of increasing competition from rival destinations. Overseas arrivals reached a record 30 million, spanding £14.25 billion in 2005.

Chief executive Tom Wright said: “I’m very pleased with VisitBritain’s progress during the year as we continue to exceed consistently Government targets for growing the visitor economy, despite the challenges presented by terrorism and security alerts in the UK and around the world.

“Our e-marketing results are especially impressive – and ahead of industry averages – with 24% of recipients opening our e-newsletters and a quarter of these clicking through to partner websites.

“Such successes have contributed to inbound visitor arrivals increasing eight per cent and spending rising by nine per cent in 2005, as well as visitbritain.com winning World’s Leading Tourism Authority Internet Site for the third year in a row – a welcome reward for our commitment to, and investment in, online marketing.

“Enjoy England celebrated their third anniversary with a series of outstanding achievements and confirmation that England remains the most popular destination for short breaks among the English. More than 86 million Britons now take an overnight holiday in England and spend £14.5 billion – well ahead of the 66.5 million trips UK residents take abroad.”

He added: “In our increasingly competitive tourism economy, consumer engagement is key. VisitBritain now provides services that help our customers to not only browse and look at everything the destination offers, but also to book, travel, stay, tell and keep in touch. Our aim is simple: to convert their interest in our superlative destinations into action and ultimately increase visits.

“VisitBritain will continue to work with Government, its partners in the public and private sectors, and the thousands of small and medium-sized tourism businesses to seize the opportunities ahead and overcome the challenges.”

Report by Phil Davies