Chairperson Deborah Heather.
The Tourism Society have pledged any support they can give to the Committee in the pursuit of its recommendations.
The Tourism Society, the professional membership body for people working in all sectors of the visitor economy, warmly welcomes the report from the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee on Promoting Britain Abroad, which was published on 24 th October 2022.
“We are delighted to see the clear recognition in the report of the considerable importance of inbound tourism to the UK economy, both for our short term recovery and our long term prosperity. We fully endorse the Committee’s call for stronger support from Government, in view of the increasingly competitive nature of global inbound tourism”, commented Chairperson Deborah Heather.
In particular, the Society’s board especially wish to underline the following key elements of the Committee’s recommendations:
- Increasing the marketing budget of Visit Britain to match the resources available to our main competitors, while also improving the process of Government approval of marketing spending.
- More effectively showcasing the regions of Britain outside London to inbound markets, including allocating a significant proportion of the marketing budget for this purpose.
- Reducing unnecessary entry barriers to the UK, ensuring that visa requirements are no greater than those of comparable countries and enabling the use of ID cards where appropriate.
- Taking full account of all direct and indirect impacts of policy decisions on the tourism economy, for example in retail taxation and its implications for visitor arrivals and spending.
- Recognising staff shortages as a major challenge for tourism businesses, requiring action to address immediate needs as well as the long term image of careers in the sector.
- Committing to and effectively supporting the full implementation of the de Bois review of DMOs, which was widely endorsed by tourism stakeholders, including the Tourism Society.
- Making the Tourism Minister a fulltime position, with sufficient weight to influence all relevant departments across government.
The Tourism Society have pledged any support they can give to the Committee in the pursuit of its recommendations.
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She holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
