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Tourism drive to attract more US visitors
Tourism Minister Kim Howells is to take part in a six day tour of the States to tell Americans that the UK is the top holiday spot in Europe.
Dr Howells will visit the “gateway” cities of Chicago and New York, whose airports accounted for 23% of US visitors to the UK during 2002.
The UK’s tourism industry is well on the road to recovery following the effects of foot and mouth and September 11 - overall visitor numbers are up eight per cent on 2002.
But the recovery in the North American market has been slower than in Western Europe and elsewhere - latest figures for the first three months of the year show visits from the US to the UK were 14% down on 2001 and 9% down on 2002.
And as North Americans are the biggest spenders, this means tourist expenditure has not recovered in line with visitor numbers. In the fourth quarter of 2000, North American visitors to the UK made up 24% of total expenditure by overseas visitors.
Dr Howells said:
“With the summer holiday season fast approaching, now is the time to the tell the US we are ready to welcome them and have much to offer. It not for nothing that The Lonely Planet recently described Britain as “quite simply the most beautiful island on earth.
“I hope I can help convince North Americans that we should be top of their list when shopping for a European holiday this summer.”
The visit will pave the way for a £2 million advertising campaign organised by national tourism lead body VisitBritain.
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