British Tourism Framework Review

British Tourism Framework Review

At the request of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, an industry-wide review was recently conducted to determine how VisitBritain should work with other agencies to deliver key outcomes for Britain’s tourism industry. VisitBritain has now developed a new, more focused strategy in line with the recommendations from the Review and to meet the challenge of attracting greater visitor numbers to the UK in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and beyond.

Essentially, we have had to ask and answer a question that every business has faced: “How do we add value?” By asking ourselves a series of tough questions and by listening to the views of a wide variety of stakeholders, we have developed a new, clearer role. With the new role defined, we believe that we are now in a better position to move forward as a business.

The Reports

Achieving the Full Potential of the Visitor Economy: Full Report
Deloitte/Oxford Economics Report: The Economic Case for the Visitor Economy

Investing in success: Heritage and the UK tourism economy

Building on work carried out for VisitBritain, the report shows that the size of the heritage-tourism sector is in excess of £12.4 billion a year and supports an estimated 195,000 full-time jobs – this makes the sector bigger than the advertising, car or film industries.

British Tourism Industry Group

We have established partnerships with a number of key commercial tourism organisations and leading industry associations, some of which are listed below.
Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group

Britain’s Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group (TIER) is a small group comprising key tourism industry organisations and government. The group develops plans for crisis scenarios as well as managing the tourism industry’s response to a specific crisis.

TIER is facilitated by VisitBritain and comprises 10+ industry representatives. Members of the group include the Association of British Travel Agents, UKinbound, British Hospitality Association, Britain’s national tourist boards, British Airways and the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. Other groups are called on depending on the location and nature of the crisis.
Tourism Alliance

The purpose of the Tourism Alliance is to identify and develop policies and strategies that raise standards and promote quality within the industry, and to work with and lobby Government on key issues relevant to the growth and development of tourism and its contribution to the economy. It also acts as a conduit for the flow of information between Government and the Tourism Industry.
British Tourism Industry Group

The British Tourism Industry Group (BTIG) is our main stakeholder body.

Its meetings provide a vehicle for us to inform and consult with stakeholders on the development and implementation of the four-year marketing programme. It will also provide a forum to discuss Government policy in order to inform our advisory function.

By facilitating a strategic dialogue between VisitBritain and the wider tourism industry, the BTIG will also allow VisitBritain to fulfil its role as a trusted advisor to government on tourism matters.
UKinbound

UKinbound, (formerly the British Incoming Tourism Operators Association) is the official trade body representing tour operators and tourism suppliers to Britain. Members include national and regional tourist boards, tour operators, ground handlers, accommodation providers, destination management organisations, transportation, restaurants and catering companies and other tourism services - all dedicated to offering the best possible service to visitors to Britain.
British Hospitality Association

As the national trade association for hotels, restaurants and caterers, the British Hospitality Association’s primary role is to lobby government across the UK and in Europe, representing the views of all sections of the industry - not just the large organisations but also thousands of individually owned hotels. Its membership also includes restaurateurs, contract caterers, clubs, transport caterers, theatres, attraction, outside caterers, universities, suppliers to the industry and many others.
Business Visits & Events Partnerships

The mission of this partnership is to lead the way in supporting a competitive, high quality and more profitable business visits and events sector in Britain. It provides a cohesive, independent industry voice to represent Britain's business visit and events sector working in partnership with VisitBritain. Its membership is aimed at the leading trade associations and government agencies with an interest in conferences, meetings, exhibitions, trade fairs, outdoor events, incentive travel, corporate hospitality, cultural, sporting and leisure events. The Partnership is made up of members representing all areas of the events sector.

How tourism supports the British economy

The image above shows how tourism support the British economy. Tourism is Britain’s 5th largest industry, our 3rd largest export earner and worth c£115 billion a year. It employs c2.6 million people and supports over 200,000 SME’s. Overseas visitors contribute £3 billion to the Treasury every year.

Download a guide we recently produced, in partnership with the other national tourist boards for England, London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It sets out some of the key facts and figures in terms of the size, value and importance of the tourism industry, the industry's growth potential, and potential to support more jobs, the challenges and opportunities in terms of its global competitivness, and also a brief synopsis of each of the national tourist boards and our key aims and objectives.

Introduction to Britain's Tourism

View an illustration showing how tourism supports the British economy, and use our interactive map of the structure of tourism in Britain to understand the role different organisations play.