TOURISM WITH BUSINESS

Tourism with business



Tourism with business

Introduction

It is worth gaining a grasp of the global and national impact of tourism to the world's economy to achieve an accurate picture of the importance and value of tourism to Bournemouth itself. It is also critical to understand worldwide and UK forecasts and tourism trends to interpret the tourism industry in the local conurbation. In August last year, the Prime Minister stressed that tourism would be at the very heart of the UK's economic recovery, setting out a vision that the UK would become one of the world's top five tourist destinations.

The last government underplayed our tourist industry. Tourism is a fiercely competitive market, requiring skills, talent, enterprise and a government that backs Britain. It's fundamental to the rebuilding and rebalancing of our economy. To bolster domestic tourism, Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt this year announced an additional £3 million to boost domestic tourism in 2012. This funding will support the delivery of an initial £10 million marketing campaign which will break in January 2012 followed by TV advertising scheduled for March.

And despite the economic downturn, VisitEngland announced this month (October) that the number of holiday trips increased for January to June this year compared with last year by three per cent, with tourism spend rising by 10 per cent. This was thought to be due to the double bank holiday and unusually warm Spring weather, but still indicates that Brits have not lost their appetite to holiday at home.

Globally, tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries and a hugely important economic driver; it is one of but a few sectors that if properly supported can offer real growth potential. England in particular is a remarkable destination and a real powerhouse in UK tourism. It alone represents 84 per cent of the total UK tourist value, is worth £97billion, and supports in excess of 2 million jobs. Worldwide, travel and tourism in 2011 is forecast to make a direct contribution of £1,198.2 billion to world GDP*. By 2021, this is forecast to reach £1,852.7 billion, a rise of just over £647.7 billion in ten years. Travel and tourism's indirect contribution to world GDP is forecast to rise far higher - £3,880.9 billion this year, rocketing up to £5,976.3 billion in 2021.

Discussion

In 2010, 119 million trips were made in the UK, and 96 million in England, generating £20.8bn and £16.2bn respectively. While trips are down on 2009, the 'staycation year', they remain above pre-recession levels, particularly for holiday trips. Across all trips made in the UK, around 1 in 3 use hotel accommodation, and 18% self-catering, while 37% of trips involve a stay in someone's home.

Over 70% of trips are for three nights or fewer - only around 1 in 20 is longer than 8 nights. Travel is distributed fairly evenly across the year, although, as would be expected, the majority of trips (59%) take place during the Spring and Summer months (April to ...