Month: February 2014
School holiday pricing briefing updated following the Westminster debate
The page containing the Tourism Alliance brief on the school holiday pricing debate has now be updated to include comment on, and a link to the Hansard report on the debate on “Holiday Pricing” held in Westminster Hall yesterday, 24 February:
Northern Ireland Tourist Board publish their latest quarterly report
In their latest quarterly intelligence reports ‘look back, think forward’ NITB take stock of the 2013 year that was and look forward to the year ahead:
Tourism Alliance School Holiday’s Briefing
A recent e-petition that calls for holiday companies to stop charging extra during school holidays has received over 170,000 signatures and, as a result, the Westminster Back Bench Committee has agreed to hold a debate on this issue in Westminster Hall on 24th February 2014. The Tourism Alliance briefing note on the issue can be found at: http://britishdestinations.net/tourism-industry-strategies-policies/tourism-alliance-school-holidays-briefing/
Meetings with the Shadow Tourism Minister 24th and 26th February.
British Destinations CEO Peter Hampson is meeting with Clive Efford MP, Shadow Minister for Tourism, at two meeting arranged by the Tourism Alliance, to be held next week.
The first on Monday 24th February, Chaired by Ken Robinson, focuses on sub National structures in England and the second on Wednesday 26th February, which Peter has been asked to Chair, focuses on coastal and coastal resort tourism. A number of representatives from British Destinations coastal member’s group have volunteered to represent issues at the coastal meeting; we could at a pinch accommodate one or two more, if we are contacted immediately.
Members of the British Destinations Executive (a cross-section from all destinations types, sizes and locations) have already had an opportunity to give their views on the English sub National structures issues and the coastal destinations members their views on key topics for the UK coastal meeting. This note therefore represents a final trawl for any burning issues that anyone, and especially, those in membership might wish to see raised. (email us now).
Representatives from non-member destinations are welcome to submits views, however, unlikely the views from our member destinations these may not necessarily be taken on-board! For anyone in doubt about membership status the list of current member destinations is at: Members
The Regional Value of Tourism 2011 published today:
The Tourism Intelligence Unit (TIU), Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest report which examines the value of tourism in the regions and sub-regions of the UK in 2011. It can be accessed at:
http://britishdestinations.net/research-and-statistics/the-regional-value-of-tourism-2011-2014/
Day Visitor Figure For 2013 Published
VE have published the Day Visitor Survey results for the final quarter of 2013, which also include the figures for 2013 as a whole for both England and for Great Britain.
Overall, the number of Day Visits taken in the GB last year was down by 7% to 1.59bn and the expenditure was down by 5% (£3.1bn) to £53.95bn. So, taken together with the GBTS data on overnight domestic trips and the IPS figures on inbound tourism expenditure, it looks like total expenditure on domestic and inbound tourism in 2013 will be very slightly down (approx. £1bn) on 2012. (source Tourism Alliance).
British Destinations members can access the report, which although specifically about England also contains the total for GB, in one of our protected member’s section pages. This page also contains an updated link to the latest edition of VE’s Destination News (last item on the page):
Members who have forgotten the login can request it here. Non-members can search the net or alternatively why not think about joining? More information at:
Business Rates: The Road to reform – a discussion paper from the British Retail Consortium February 2014
Read what the British Retail Consortium is actually saying about reforming the business rate system. This is an important issue for the tourism industry in England and Wales and unlike proposals for reducing VAT for example, it is something Government are duty bound to look at in detail in 2017. That looking at, might simply result in a revaluation but it does give a genuine opportunity to lobby for wholesale reform. The BRC paper may act as timely catalyst for the start of both national and local tourism engagement on the Business rate issue?
Access it at via: http://britishdestinations.net/599-2/business-rates-the-road-to-reform-a-discussion-paper-from-the-british-retail-consortium-february-2014/
European Tourism Indicator System – Call for expression of interest for a second pilot phase, closing 15 March
Phase 2 of the European Tourism Indicator Scheme (ETIS) pilot testing has been announced. As the indicators used are largely the ones incorporated into the British Destinations annual destination intelligence survey, British Destinations members should find it relatively easy to participate in the pilot running 1 April to 31 December 2014:
Westminster Government announce £10 million flood support for SMEs
Detail of the Westminster Government’s £10m flood support package for SMEs announced this morning (17 February) can be accessed here.
Call to reduce Tourism VAT rejected:
Thanks to colleagues who provided the following links to an excellent summary of the 11 February Westminster debate on reducing Tourism VAT:
http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Business/Treasury-rejects-VAT-cut-despite-cross-party-support
Further background detail on the ongoing campaign, the October 2013 campaign briefing note can be accessed at:
British Destinations 