England Leads UK Tourism in Growth and Future Prospects

England’s central role in driving the future growth of tourism in the UK has been outlined in a new report released today from Deloitte ‘Tourism: jobs and growth’.  Worth £106billion and supporting 2.6million jobs, English tourism is the driving nation behind an industry that has grown faster than manufacturing, construction and retail.

The tourism economy in England accounts for 8.8 per cent of England’s GDP and 9.4 per cent of employment. Both the value of the sector and employment levels have grown in recent years, outperforming the wider economy which further demonstrates the resilience of the industry during times of economic strain. For the first time, this report provides analysis for London and the rest of England separately highlighting the importance of the industry throughout the whole of England.

Outside of the capital tourism is worth £70billion and supports1.9million jobs demonstrating that the sector is vital to the economic health of much of the country. 

The Capital City clearly has world-wide appeal and for many international visitors London will be their first and sometimes only port of call.  This report demonstrates the massive opportunity the rest of England has to use the international draw of London to inspire inbound visitors, both leisure and business, to explore destinations outside of London, and maximise the opportunity provided by England’s excellent network of regional ports of entry.

VisitEngland’s Chief Executive James Berresford said: “England is the powerhouse behind UK tourism, driving the increase in domestic and international visitors and generating job creation throughout the country.  We cannot, however, continue to achieve this momentum without working ever more closely together.  Whilst maintaining strong links with our traditional stakeholders, we must continually think outside of the box by forging new partnerships with the private sector, reaching out to organisations which have a shared growth agenda and thinking laterally about new funding streams.

He goes onto say: “VisitEngland’s continued work in supporting our destinations through our three year campaign Growing Tourism Locally, funded by the Regional Growth Fund, our national marketing campaigns as well as our work to forge great partnerships between organisations with a shared growth agenda chime well with the future opportunities outlined in the report demonstrating that England is leading the way with innovative solutions which both foster growth and long term employment.

The report was commissioned by VisitBritain and is available on www.visitbritain.org

For more information contact: Sarah Long, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: 020 7578 1452, Email [email protected] www.visitengland.org

Notes to Editors:
About VisitEngland
• VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors
• Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics