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TA Weekly Update – 9th January 2025

In this newsletter:

Could 2025 be the year “tourism” stops being a dirty word?

CORRECTION – Tourism Insights Conference and ETW Parliamentary Reception date – 18th March

Thanks to colleagues who helpfully pointed out that the date in the body of the email below regarding the Tourism Insights Conference and ETW Parliamentary Reception was incorrect. It should have read 18th March 2025, as per the graphic. It has been corrected below. Apologies for any confusion.

Happy new year….???

We hope you had an enjoyable break over Christmas and New Year. 2025 has plenty in store for tourism – some hopeful, and some less so.

On the hopeful side, we should see a new Government tourism strategy published, we should see movement towards finally getting statutory registration for holiday lets, we should see inbound tourism figures finally recover to 2019 levels, and we have the Government’s recently announced target of inbound growth to 50m visits to spur industry and Whitehall along. We also have English Tourism Week to look forward to and our Tourism Insights Conference and Parliamentary Reception (see below) and plenty of engagement sessions with new MPs.

On the less hopeful side, we have the dreaded budget announcements coming into effect, economic signs are not looking great for the Government’s growth ambitions or the trading environment, ETAs will be fully rolled out for all non-visa nationals with as-yet unknown consequences, and new challenges for the Alliance in engaging with DCMS on all of these issues (see below).

In any case, we are grateful for our members’ continued support and look forward to working with you all in 2025.

Visitor Economy Advisory Council news

Those of you who were at the Tourism Policy Conference in November will have heard the Minister announce a new Visitor Economy Advisory Council. This was something we had been calling for as it is key to ensuring industry involvement in the new, and urgently needed tourism growth strategy, which was also promised.

 

Extremely disappointingly, we were informed before Christmas that the Tourism Alliance – the only representative body for the whole tourism industry with a key focus on Westminster tourism policy – would not be invited to be a member of this Council, unlike the previous Tourism Industry Council where we had a leadership role. We understand there is also more broadly a diminished role for trade associations.

We have yet to see the full membership of the Council, but those we know who have been invited will do an excellent job. However, excluding the Alliance will mean many parts of our diverse and disparate sector may feel unrepresented at that top table and will hamper the ability of the Department to hear the synthesised voice of tourism, which is precisely why the Alliance was established – at the urging of the Department itself.

 

There will be additional engagement forums which DCMS are keen to promote as being important in broadening engagement, and we will work within those to ensure that our industry voices are heard in the tourism strategy design and delivery process.

We wish the VEAC and its members well in their work.

ETAs now rolled out for worldwide, non-European visitors

As of this week, all non-European, non-visa nationals coming to the UK now need an ETA to travel here. That of course includes large volume markets such as the USA. Final roll-out to European travellers will take place in April this year, completing the process.

The most recent Partner Pack produced by the Home Office with information, graphics and details, can be accessed here.

Access The Partner Pack

We will be monitoring the impact of ETA implementation on tourism – it is not yet known how much of an effect it will have, but with Europeans in particular, it could be noticeable. If you have any insights into this, please do keep in touch with us during the year.

Tourism Insights Conference and Parliamentary Reception tickets – now on sale

We are pleased to announce the 2025 Tourism Insights Conference and English Tourism Week Parliamentary Reception. This will follow a similar format to last year with a half day conference taking place at the Royal Aeronautical Society, followed by the reception on the House of Commons terrace.

 

👉 Tuesday 18th March 2025

👉 Conference 0930-1400

👉 Parliamentary Reception 1500-1700

We have some great speakers lined up – more details on the programme in the coming days.

Tickets Now On Sale Here

Congratulations to tourism honourees

We would like to offer heartfelt congratulations to three tourism colleagues who were justly recognised in this year’s New Year’s honours.

  • Fiona Pollard, VisitEngland board member, and former interim Chair was awarded a CBE.
  • Sarah Green, CEO of our member Newcastle-Gateshead Initiative (NGI), was awarded an OBE.
  • And Ian Thomas, Director of Visitor Economy also at NGI, was awarded an MBE.

 

Congratulations to each.

CMS committee announces new-style rolling inquiry

The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has announced a new-style inquiry, which will put the onus on the public and industry to raise topics for examination.

 

The “State of Play” inquiry will use these criteria to decide whether to take up an issue:

  • Whether this is a topic that falls wholly or mainly within the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
  • Whether the Committee, Government or other relevant body has recently undertaken work on this topic
  • What impact the Committee and Government can have in dealing with the issues being raised
  • The breadth of support from the relevant sector(s)
  • The urgency of any potential action
  • Whether the proposal can be considered effectively in a single evidence session

More details about this inquiry can be found at https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8784/state-of-play/

 

We will be making use of this opportunity throughout the year and your organisation may well find ways to do so too.

Could 2025 be the year “tourism” stops being a dirty word?

Fortune published this piece just before the New Year which is worth a read. The piece looks at the rising trend of anti-tourism sentiment in certain destinations, and whether and how this might change in 2025.

Read The Article Here

 

Karen Heading

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