More than 7,000 business appointments are due to take place during the three-day trade fair, giving more than 100 buyers from 14 cities across China, as well as Hong Kong, the chance to see the latest tourism offerings from across the UK with suppliers from Oxford, Canterbury, Harrow and London, to Leeds, the Lake District, Northumberland and Inverness to name a few.
International visits to Britain for the first nine months of 2015 have broken previous records according to new figures out from the Office for National Statistics. The data shows there were 27.1 million visits to Britain from January to September this year, a 3% increase compared to the same period in 2014.
Spending by international visitors in September was £2.2 billion, equalling last year’s record spend for the same month. Overall, spending by visitors for the first nine months of 2015 was £16.5 billion.
The continued growth in international visits reflects findings from the 2015 Anholt-GfK Nations Brand Index (NBI) published earlier this week, which showed that global perceptions of Britain as a welcoming place are improving.
China in particular gave the UK a big boost for ‘welcome’ in the NBI, scoring it 3rd overall for this ‘attribute,’ up 11 places from 2014. China also ranked the UK 1st overall for culture and 2nd overall for not only tourism but also as a place they’d like to visit if money was no object. The results come just as VisitBritain gets set to host its largest ever tourism mission to China next week with more than 70 travel trade and industry suppliers from the UK set to showcase what makes Britain a GREAT destination.
Latest figures show that a record number of visitors from China are coming to Britain with the number of visits in the first six months of 2015 up 28% to 90,000 compared to the same period last year, a record first six months of the year.
Overall, the UK came 3rd out of 50 nations for its global ‘brand’ in this year’s NBI, a place it’s held for the fifth year running. The annual index surveys more than 20,000 people from a panel of 20 countries on their perceptions of 50 nations on ‘tourism’, ‘culture’ and ‘people’ as well as ‘exports’, ‘governance’ and ‘immigration/investment’ and then ranks them for their overall brand.
Britain also improved its overall ranking in the NBI in its three largest and most valuable visitor markets, the US, France and Germany.
The US rated Britain 2nd out of 50 nations for its brand, with the highest leaps in perceptions of ‘natural beauty’ and ‘cultural heritage’. The US market has also been showing a continued return to growth, with a 3% increase in visitors to Britain during the first six months of 2015 compared to the previous year, and the amount spent 2% higher in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014.
France ranked the UK in 4th place overall, its highest placing in seven years, while Germany moved it up 3 places to equal highest 6th place rank, with improvements in perceptions of ‘sport’ and ‘welcome.’
VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates said: “It’s really great to see the continued growth in visitor numbers as well as the gains we’ve made in global perceptions of our brand. Promoting Britain’s countryside, culture and ‘welcome’ around the world have been a focus for VisitBritain so it’s really positive to see the big improvements in these areas.
“The continued improvement across our most valuable visitor markets including the US, France and Germany, as well as growth markets such as China where we’ve been running our GREAT China Welcome programme and Culture is GREAT campaigns, is also a great endorsement that our international campaigns and marketing are producing results.”
VisitBritain launched its global Countryside is GREAT campaign in February this year to drive visits across the whole of Britain and international perceptions of the UK’s ‘natural beauty’ have also reached new heights in this year’s NBI, coming inside the top 20 global rankings for the first time, taking 18th spot.
The UK also improved its rank as a nation ‘rich in cultural heritage,’ up one place to 6th overall. Britain held its 4th place ranking as a nation that ‘excels at sport’, reflecting the ongoing impact of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and coverage of events including the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire earlier this year and more recently the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Tourism is Britain’s seventh largest export industry and third largest service sector. The industry is also a major job creator, for example every 22 additional Chinese visitors that come to Britain create an additional job in the sector. Inbound tourism was worth more than £26 billion to the UK economy in 2013.
VisitBritain host largest ever tourism mission to China
As VisitBritain gets set to host its largest ever tourism mission to China this week, new research shows that Chinese perceptions of Britain as a tourist destination are stronger than ever.
More than 70 travel trade and industry suppliers from the UK including hotels, retailers and tour operators are set to showcase what makes Britain a GREAT destination to Chinese buyers at VisitBritain’s annual ‘Destination Britain China’ event, this year being held in Beijing from Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th November.
More than 7,000 business appointments are due to take place during the three-day trade fair, giving more than 100 buyers from 14 cities across China, as well as Hong Kong, the chance to see the latest tourism offerings from across the UK with suppliers from Oxford, Canterbury, Harrow and London, to Leeds, the Lake District, Northumberland and Inverness to name a few.
VisitBritain’s tourism mission to China comes a week after new research showed that Chinese perceptions of the UK are better than ever. In the 2015 Anholt GfK Nations Brand Index study China gave the UK a big boost for its ‘welcome’ scoring it third out of 50 countries, up 11 places from 2014. China also ranked the UK first overall for culture and second overall for not only tourism but also as a place they’d like to visit if money was no object.
VisitBritain Director Patricia Yates, who is leading the 70-strong trade delegation to China, said: “China is the world’s largest outbound market and a huge tourism opportunity for Britain, so it’s really great to see the increasingly positive Chinese perceptions of the UK as a travel destination. We saw numbers from China increase by 28% in the first six months of this year and have ambitions to double the spend from Chinese visitors to £1 billion by 2020. Chinese visitors are already some of our highest spending – spending an average £2,688 each per visit.
“Our Destination Britain China event builds on this work by giving British travel suppliers the chance to forge valuable business connections with the Chinese travel trade, showcase the latest tourism offerings from their local areas, and ultimately inspire more visitors from China to come to Britain and explore all our nations and regions.”
Destination Britain China has been running since 2009. As well as doing business with top travel buyers in China, delegates at this year’s event will also hear about the latest international travel market trends, what the UK is doing to attract more international visitors to all its nations and regions, alongside seminars and networking to boost knowledge of Britain as a tourist destination.
VisitBritain is also set to launch its updated GREAT China Welcome directory during the event. It lists the more than 300 businesses that have joined its programme to date to build Britain as the most welcoming destination in Europe for Chinese visitors by providing information in Mandarin or Cantonese for example, and adapting their products for the Chinese market and culture.
VisitBritain is also promoting Britain as a destination of choice in China through its ongoing Culture is GREAT campaign, with the latest phase launched in October. The £1.3 million social media campaign promotes memorable moments visitors can only get in Britain with Chinese visitors invited to create, share and upload images of their own experiences. Known in China as ‘Enjoy the GREAT fun times in Britain’, these videos and images are being shared globally by VisitBritain to inspire fellow travellers to come and explore all of the UK. The campaign runs until the end of December and aims to reach more than 100 million people.
Other recent developments to promote the UK’s competitive tourism offer in China include the announcement in October of the first direct airline route from Beijing to Manchester. The new route, operated by Hainan Airlines, becomes operational from May 2016 and will offer up to four direct flights per week from Beijing to Manchester, making it easier for Chinese visitors to explore the UK’s northern regions. The UK Government has also announced a new two-year multiple-entry visitor visa for tourists from China from January 2016 costing £85, the same as the current standard six-month visa.
Also in October, a new Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the UK and Chinese Governments to hold annual talks on tourism with the China National Tourism Administration. The aim is to increase strategic co-operation on tourism through improving travel connections between the two countries and promoting relationships between the UK and Chinese travel trade.
VisitBirtains Monthly Inbound Update for September 2015
VisitBritain's Foresight Report on the 2015 Anholt-GfK Nations Brand Index (NBI)
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
