The Rt Hon. George Osborne, MP Chancellor of the Exchequer, First Secretary of State Her Majesty s Treasury 1, Horse Guards Road London SW1A 2HQ 6 November 2015 Dear Chancellor, We the undersigned wish to express our wholehearted support of the efforts this Government is making to grow tourism in England and across Britain. The Prime Minister s five-point plan and the ongoing GREAT Campaign, spearheaded by the GREAT Board, will reap long-term benefits for our nation. Indeed the recent International Passenger Survey figures show that international visitation to these shores is growing. We do however feel it is our duty to highlight a very real concern. England has become the poor relation within the family of UK home nations in tourism, undermining the economic potential to deliver jobs and growth. Whilst all the home nations benefit from marketing afforded by GREAT and VisitBritain, both Visit Wales and Visit Scotland supplement this activity with dedicated tourism budgets of over 20m and 54m respectively. VisitEngland on the other hand receives a core budget of less than 7m to support the English tourism industry. This is expected to fall below 6m in the current Spending Review and will be made even worse by VisitEngland no longer receiving Regional Growth Fund money, which between 2012 and 2015 was successful in generating over 1.5 billion spend and supporting or creating over 29,000 jobs a devastating double setback compounded further by the end of the South West and Northern Tourism Growth Funds. English Tourism in our view is being unfairly overlooked with real concern that VisitEngland may soon be forced to end its business development and domestic marketing activity entirely. This would be the first time in living memory that there will be no national support of the English tourism product. The Government s recent triennial review of tourism, alongside the DCMS Select Committee Inquiry on Tourism, called for new funding to address the long-standing economic issues in English tourism, especially outside London. The triennial review s recommendation was for VisitEngland to manage a new and independent challenge fund focused on product development. This Fund, estimated to require 20 million a year, would address the serious market failures in the tourism sector, leverage private sector investment, and deliver world-class visitor experiences in regional England. This is estimated, over four years, to create 1.28bn spend and deliver 23,700 jobs in regional England. 1
A fund would achieve this by providing leadership, coordination, and innovation to a massively fragmented sector in order to achieve world-class experiences and a strong domestic market. Only with a Fund will VisitEngland be able to bring together stakeholders and address the fragmented network of Destination Management Organisations. Chancellor, we ask you on behalf of English tourism, its businesses, and its destinations, to review the low funding and damaging imbalance that English tourism currently experiences when compared with Visit Wales and Visit Scotland. To address this, we ask for your support in the Comprehensive Spending Review for the Government s triennial reviews recommendation for VisitEngland to independently manage a challenge fund to help secure your five-point plan and allow English tourism to finally reach its potential. CC: The Rt Hon. David Cameron MP The Rt Hon. Greg Hands MP The Rt Hon. John Whittingdale, OBE, MP Tracey Crouch MP Yours sincerely, Tim Alderslade Public Affairs & PR Airport Operators Association Steve Cassidy Senior Vice President UK & Ireland Hilton Worldwide Robin Barker Vice president Tourism Management Institute Soozie Campbell Chair Brighton & Hove Tourism Alliance Malcom Bell Visit Cornwall Richard Compton President Historic Houses Association 2
Geoff Cowley Managing Wyndham Vacation Rentals UK Emma English Executive British Educational Travel Association Carolyn Custerson Officer English Riviera Tourism Company Ltd Richard Evans Beamish, the Living Museum of the North Juliana Delaney Chief Exectutive Officer Continuum Attractions Limited Paul Gardner Bougaard Resort Development Organisation Ltd The Duke of Devonshire KCVO, CBE, DL. Chatsworth Jane Lady Gibson, Chair Make It York Bernard Donoghue Association of Leading Visitor Attractions Peter Hampson British Destinations 3
Alistair Handyside Chairman South West Tourism Alliance & Chairman Premier Cottages Kurt Janson Tourism Alliance Michael Hirst OBE Chairmam Business Visits and Events Partnership Paul Kelly BALPPA John Hoy Blenheim Palace John Lally General National Caravan Council Robert Hough CBE Chairman Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership Tim Manson Operations & Policy Marketing Birmingham Dr Noël James Historic Towns Forum Sandra Matthews-Marsh MBE Chairman The Tourism Society 4
Howard Pridding British Marine Simon Tarr People1st Ros Pritchard OBE General British Holiday & Home Parks Association Amanda Thompson OBE Managing Blackpool Pleasure Beach Brigid Simmonds British Beer & Pub Association Robert Sinclair Officer Bristol Airport Nigel Smith Tourism South East Mark Tanzer Association of British Traval Agents Ian Stephens Managing Cumbria Tourism Emma Tatlow Head of Visit Lincoln Andrew Stokes Marketing Manchester David Thornton Visit Isle of Wight Limited 5
Deirdre Wells UKinbound David Weston FTS The Bed and Breakfast Association Andy Woodward Farm Stay UK Nigel Wilkinson Managing Windermere Lake Cruises Limited Peter Wragg Chairman VisitWiltshire 6