Leisure Media Issue 3 2009 - Leisure Opportunities

BRITISH TOURISMPHOTO: WWW.ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DAVID JOYNERtime truly represents English tourism’spublic and private sector stakeholders.In the minds of the England stakeholdersits role is to work in partnership withthe RDAs, local authorities and the privatesector to create an English nationaltourism strategy, optimise marketinginvestment and develop the visitorexperience. The aim is to create a bodycapable of driving economic growthand excellence in English tourism. ThePartnershipswith BritishAirwaysand Air Asiahave provedsuccessful,helping toput ‘bums onseats’ on flightsto BritainPartners for England Forum – which brings together the nation’spublic and private sectors – continues to provide the primaryplatform for stakeholder engagement with VisitEngland.KEY PRIORITIESFollowing the publication of the review and after the industrywas recognised by the prime minister at the National TourismSummit in January, government invited the industry to submitfive priorities where government could demonstrate support: Improved government recognition of tourismWork here has already gathered pace with the first meetingsof the cross-Whitehall co-ordination group and the TourismAdvisory Council to help ensure tourism is considered in policymakingdecisions across all departments. Government shouldensure tourism measures are included in the way local authorityperformance is reported and rewarded, or they should be givena duty to have a positive strategy for tourism in their areas. Support for jobs and business development of the industryTo continue to excel as a leading visitor destination, Britainneeds to make business operators aware of the benefits ofstriving for even better standards across the board. Governmentcan help by providing incentives for SMEs to retain and train –and not just recruit – staff. The Learning & Skills Council andPeople 1st should work with local authorities to ensure thistraining is delivered. In particular, councils and local chambersof commerce should identify local businesses in the transport,retail, hospitality and leisure sectors that can best be engagedin the skills improvement agenda.Industry has long considered the benefits of creating aTourism Development Bank. Tourism is a business of 200,000SMEs and many are having difficulties securing loans to investin their businesses. A Tourism Development Bank – a joint venturebetween the public sector and the private sector (thebanks) – would focus on supporting investment finance into theindustry in line with a national tourism strategy. Banks wouldprovide the funds, and government would provide guaranteedrepayment of loans and support for an interest cap on them. Easier, cheaper visa processesThe industry believes we must trial a Schengen Plus schemeimmediately in China, India, Russia, Thailand and the UAE. For£20, when these visitors are planning trips to Shengen countries,they might no longer be dissuaded from visiting us simplybecause a UK visa is too expensive. We urge easing the processto allow for tourist visa applications in local languages,rather than English alone, and a greater number of processingcentres, as well as investment in immigration staff to provide aspeedier and more friendly welcome for visitors. Additional funding to enable VisitBritain tomatch commercial sector investmentAround the world, carriers, accommodation providers and touroperators are prepared to invest in marketing activity, if onlyVisitBritain puts its money where its mouth is and matchesthose funds. We have already seen significant success acrossour Asia-Pacific markets through partnerships with BritishAirways and Air Asia, which have put ‘bums on seats’ on flightsto Britain. Investment now would also help us take advantage ofexchange rates currently in our favour and while the industry isoffering great deals to attract consumers. A review of business taxationGovernment could achieve much by ensuring the recentlyannounced Small Firms Enterprise Guarantee Scheme appliesto tourism businesses, as well as giving tourism businesses aVAT holiday. It was also a missed opportunity for a governmentthat didn’t make use of the budget to reduce or repeal air passengerduty, which is due to rise later this year, adding anotherlayer to Britain’s competitive disadvantage. Bringing forwardcapital investment, such as high speed rail links to Scotland androad and rail transport infrastructure in the West Country, wouldbenefit the whole industry as the UK comes out of recession.After a year of discussion in producing the framework review,we’re already making progress on a year of action. The reviewhighlights why the industry, the public sector and governmentneed to work closely together to deliver the visitor economy’sfull potential. As Britain invests to escape a recession, our workcan ensure that, with investment, tourism can help lead the way.The Economic Case for the Visitor Economy by Deloitte andOxford Economics, and full and summary versions of the BritishTourism Framework Review, are available at tourismreview.co.uk ●44 Read Leisure Management online leisuremanagement.co.uk/digitalISSUE 3 2009 © cybertrek 2009