National tourism agency, VisitBritain, and London’s tourist board, Visit London, host a reception last Friday (15 August 2008) to present London and Britain as host city and host nation of the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to the Chinese travel trade and media. It positions Britain as a nation that stands ready to welcome visitors from around the world as a place that excels for sport at all levels, for events and for experiences, attractions and destinations with a unique blend of historical and contemporary culture.

The event took place as VisitBritain led a delegation from Britain’s nations and regions – including the East of England, North East, North West, Northern Ireland, South East, South West, Wales and Yorkshire – to promote their sports facilities and venues, and gain an understanding of Games-time operations.

It complements the launch of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games’ (LOCOG) Pre-Games Training Camp prospectus. It showcases over 600 of Britain's high-quality elite sporting venues and facilities to National Olympic Committees and the international federations of the 26 sports participating in the 2012 Games. Extensive details also appear on a website, delivered by VisitBritain and LOCOG and showcasing the quality and variety of options throughout the UK which will help them decide where to send their teams to train.

VisitBritain showed guests its new Britain for Sport film promoting Britain’s sporting heritage, which will inspire travellers from China and worldwide through visitbritain.com, at exhibitions and events. The film showcases an exciting and inspiring, modern, 21st century destination with a strong sporting heritage and culture. As well as the film, VisitBritain is creating a dedicated, sport and Olympic Games-related area on all 46 versions of its award-winning international consumer websites in 26 languages, which are used by 13 million unique visitors every year. The area features information on destinations and attractions linked to Olympic Games past and present, sports and athletes as well as quirky facts, top ten lists, insider tips and inspiring imagery.

VisitBritain chief executive, Tom Wright, says: “Britain is a sporting nation with a reputation earned in part by the popularity of our world-renowned events and venues at destinations in every nation and region. With visits to Britain from China increasing 35 per cent last year and more and more Chinese looking for their next destination, the Beijing Olympic Games is a wonderful opportunity for us to raise awareness of the range of destinations and experiences available in Britain.”

Chinese visitors are attracted by Britain’s cities and culture, history and heritage, its countryside and coastline, and a calendar of social and sporting events. Here they have the opportunity to indulge in trips to historic houses and royal palaces, to national museums and art galleries with special collections and exhibitions. Global high street names and the availability of designer brands – Selfridges, Burberry, Harrods and Marks & Spencer – mean shopping is another draw.

The landscapes of England, Scotland and Wales have inspired literary greats from Shakespeare to Austen, Robert Burns to Dylan Thomas and today, the Chinese can explore thousands of miles of coastline and acres of achingly beautiful countryside. They are also drawn to locations favoured by film-makers and seen in films from Harry Potter to Elizabeth The Golden Age.

Visit London’s Chief Executive, James Bidwell adds that, as host cities for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Beijing and London had been brought even closer together. He says: “Visit London will be focussing on how we can translate the excitement of the Chinese people about their own Olympic Games into enthusiasm for London’s Games in 2012. Our ambition is to capture the spirit that is bringing millions of Chinese domestic visitors to Beijing and make London the next obvious choice as a visitor destination. We expect visits to London from China to grow by over 300% by 2012, outpacing the growth rates in many of our traditional markets.”

The Chinese made 144,000 visits in 2007– an increase of nearly 400% over the last ten years - and spend £181 million here. On average, they spend over £1250 on trips of almost 20 nights’ duration. In 2006, 39,000 Chinese visitors spent £34 million shopping in Britain – their most popular activity – while visiting castles, churches, monuments, historic houses was an activity enjoyed during 36,000 visits. They spent £29 million during the 34,000 visits that involved seeing museums and art galleries. Interestingly, 7,000 visits involved either watching sporting events or participating in sports activities. The appeal of Britain for the Chinese also includes wider British culture, Oxford, Cambridge and natural scenic beauty and landscapes.

VisitBritain has created a dedicated online media centre with copyright-free, broadcast quality moving images, a library of free photographs, copyright-free articles and features about the UK’s Olympic venues, as well as sports-related activities, experiences, attractions and destinations and what’s new around the UK.