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