2009 marks the fortieth anniversary of Labour's Development of Tourist Act, and will be a crucial year for changes that will determine the future performance of Britain's tourism industry. According to the recently published 'British Tourism Framework Review' from VisitBritain, tourism is an £86billion industry and employs 1.4million people throughout the country.

As the UK Government continue to cut interest rates and struggle to find sustainable solutions to combat the serious global recession, tourism is a 'rare beacon of hope'. As Ken Robinson CBE FTS states in the March/April Destination UK, "Never before have the circumstances been so wrong for the economy, yet so right for tourism to grow. The plunging pound is a springboard for gain at the cost of our international competitors.'"

Nigel Leacock, Director of Lloyds TSB Cardnet will set the scene with a keynote address on 'The State of the UK Economy'. The impressive speaker line-up includes senior representatives from VisitEngland, the Scottish Tourism Forum, Yorkshire Forward and the London Development Agency who will reveal the importance of tourism to their region and Directors from Superbreak, London City Airport, TRI Hospitality Consulting and Ripley Castle will review how the economic situation has impacted their particular sector. All speakers will provide marketing tactics to combat the global economic downturn.