Tourism 2012:An Olympic Tourism Strategy

Jo Leslie2012 Strategy & Communications

Britain’s main tourism challenges

• Ever more competition

• Time-poor audiences

• Global quest for escapism, experiences & environment

• Providing value for money

• Breaking new markets

• Reaching younger customers

• Injecting passion and excitement into our brand

The “Olympic Games Advantage”

• Value of the Olympic Games brand

• Truly international focus and experience

• Unique global and national sponsor network

• High level catchment of business contacts

• Unsurpassed global exposure

• Unique public excitement and interest

source: New Initiatives in Promoting Business & Tourism Development

– David Faulks, John Morse & Terry Goss

Lessons from previous Games

• Barcelona 1992 – changed the face of the city

• Atlanta 1996 – doubled convention business

• Sydney 2000 – advanced ‘Brand Australia’ by 10 years

• Athens 2004 – provided incredible media reach

• Germany 2006 – improved the visitor product

Inbound Visitor Spend - Olympic Impact

-£100

-£50

£0

£50

£100

£150

£200

£250

£300

£350

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

£m

sport holiday business BRICS

Much of this will be “substitute” tourism

What might this look like?

Source: VisitBritain, April 2006 (NB BRICS = emerging markets)

Opportunities for Britain’s visitor economy

• To grow London & UK’s visitor economies faster than would otherwise be possible

• To spread the economic benefits throughout the UK

• To improve perceptions of Britain

• To set new standards for how tourism can be integrated into major international events

• To maximise the long term legacy

Tourism 2012 opportunities: Image

• Align as closely as possible with the Olympics brand values to reinvigorate Britain’s image & appeal to tomorrow’s travellers

• Bolster the contemporary aspects of the Britain brand by injecting more passion and vibrancy

• Reduce our dependency on Western Europe & mature markets by appealing to new markets

Tourism 2012 opportunities: Cultural Tourism• Influence and promote the content of the four-year

‘Cultural Olympiad’

• Extend Liverpool ’08 into Britain-wide campaign, involving every nation and region

• Ensure festivals, Torch Relay etc touch all our key markets

• Start delivering visitors now – no need to wait till 2012…

• Lever our 2012 Bid win to attract more sporting & international events, conferences & conventions

• Focus on industry sectors with a natural allegiance to Olympics, especially sports

• Package existing events together to create themes/campaigns/major events that are greater than the sum of the parts

• Work with partners throughout Britain to attract international & domestic event visitors

Tourism 2012 opportunities: Sports & Events

• Use Olympics as catalyst for addressing the variable quality of UK tourism product

• Get majority of guest accommodation quality assured & engage attractions behind single agenda

• Accelerate improvements in welcome, quality & skills

• Lever the 2012 Paralympic Games to address gaps in the National Accessibility Scheme

Tourism 2012 opportunities: Tourism product

The Tourism 2012 Strategy

• Welcome > Legacy consultation: 200 responses

• Ministerial meeting: 23 January

• Strategy launch: late spring