Recommendation 16

The fragmented nature of marketing budgets across the UK, with different sectors and different parts of the country supported by different funds, makes it difficult to quantify the exact amount of Government funding for inbound tourism marketing. However, the minister himself acknowledged that it is low by international standards. Whilst we acknowledge the challenge of the current economic climate on public spending, the Government cannot afford to be complacent: tourists need winning back to Britain and we cannot do it on reputation alone. If Britain wants to compete internationally, VisitBritain’s marketing budgets must keep pace with those of our nearest competitors. The cost of this investment will be vastly exceeded by the returns it will generate.