Tourism industry applauds the Government’s ambition to grow inbound tourist numbers to 50 million by 2030

The Tourism Alliance has responded warmly to the announcement of a new Government’s ambition to grow inbound tourism to the UK to 50m people by 2023, up from 38m in 2023. The Minister made this announcement in his keynote speech at the Tourism Policy Conference hosted by the Tourism Alliance in London yesterday, Tuesday 26th November.

Richard Toomer, the Tourism Alliance Executive Director, said

“The tourism industry applauds the Government’s ambition to grow our inbound tourist numbers to 50m by 2030. This is exactly the level of ambition we wanted to see from this new Government in recognition of the strength of the UK’s tourism offer, the sector’s potential to grow, and our ability to contribute to the Government’s central economic mission.

“We’re ready to work with the Tourism Minister, Chris Bryant, his team at DCMS, the rest of Government, and crucially, our national tourist board, VisitBritain, to turn this bold ambition into reality.

“As well as boosting overall numbers, we agree with the Tourism Minister in his vision to get more international tourists to  experience everything the UK has to offer, outside of the more traditional tourism hotspots. Far too few of our visitors venture outside the capital, and a new tourism strategy should place greater regional spread as a core objective.”

“One key factor in boosting overall numbers will be to tackle our persistently poor ranking on international competitiveness. The UK currently ranks 113th out of 119 countries for price competitiveness, partly as a result of our high VAT rate compared to other destinations, and other tax rates some of which were increased in the recent Budget.

“The Minister absolutely recognises the strength of our tourism industry and tourism offer, and that we can build and grow them together. We agree, and are looking forward to getting started.”

Notes:

1. The Government’s press release: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-ambition-for-50-million-annual-visits-to-uk-announced-by-tourism-minister

2. Sir Chris Bryant MP’s speech to the Tourism Policy Conference on Tuesday 26th November: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/tourism-alliance-conference-speech