The Tourism Alliance has agreed to contribute to the tourism review currently being undertaken by VisitBritain at the request of DCMS. Despite this, the Tourism Alliance believes that this review is fundamentally flawed and will not resolve the structural and funding problems facing tourism.
The Tourism Alliance believes that there are three main failings with the review which prevent it from providing the necessary evaluation of the structure and funding of public sector tourism support. These failings are;
1. The Review is not independent and will not address the structure of public tourism funding in the UK.
The Government has devolved responsibility for tourism support to the nations and regions of the UK. The national bodies are funded through the devolved administrations, while a number of Government Departments are responsible for funding tourism development within England. Indeed, while DCMS has statutory responsibility for tourism to Britain and within England, is not the Government Department that provides the majority of funding for tourism development in either Britain or England.
As a result, the control of, and accountability for, public funding for tourism in England and Britain is disjointed and uncoordinated. This is evidenced by the fact that DCMS has no coherent figure for the amount of public funding that is expended on tourism marketing. Their estimate of £350m is demonstrably incorrect as it includes funding for such things as the marketing of Ireland and local authority expenditure on the maintenance of parks and gardens.
However, the remit of the review is for VisitBritain to assess its own the role and function within the devolved environment in which it operates and in the light of reduced resources it has been allocated. While the review may have benefits in assisting VisitBritain establish its priorities and define its role within the devolved political landscape, it will not be able to address the fundamental problem of the funding and structure of Government support for tourism in the UK and England.
2. The Decision on Tourism Funding has already been made.
DCMS's allocation of its Comprehensive Spending Review settlement has set VisitBritain's funding for the next three years through to 2011. The organisation's budget has been decreased by 18% over this period, equating to real terms decrease of 50% for international marketing since 1997.
Cutting VisitBritain's funding by 18% before the review has been undertaken means that DCMS has already predetermined the findings – that either VisitBritain is operating in an inefficient manner or that it is undertaking activities that are not required by either the industry or Government.
However, no evidence has been provided by DCMS to support either of these positions. Indeed, the last review of VisitBritain's activities by the National Audit Office in 2004 found that the organisation was being effectively and efficiently run and producing very large returns for the British economy.
Because DCMS has already set the organisation's funding for the next three years, the review will concentrate on determining how best VisitBritain can operate within the announced funding levels rather than objectively determining the correct level of funding required to deliver the best possible return for the UK in the global tourism market.
As such, the review has been structured by Government to simply justify the funding cuts that it has already announced.
3. There is little ability for any UK structural reforms to be implemented.
Although it is being described as a review of the structure of British tourism, DCMS has very limited ability to implement any structural changes that may be recommended as a result. There are two reasons for this. The first is that, as a result of the devolution of tourism responsibilities, neither DCMS nor Westminster has any control over the tourism structures in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales or the funding allocated to tourism through their respective administrations. As such, Westminster cannot require tourism bodies in Scotland or Wales to co-ordinate their activities or funding with VisitBritain and, if the imperative does not already exist for the NTBs to co-ordinate their activities, there is little to suggest that a review will create one.
Secondly, within England, neither the Local Authorities nor the Regional Development Agencies have a statutory requirement to undertake any tourism marketing activities. Tourism development and marketing is a discretionary activity for both and, with the tight settlements that both LAs and RDAs received through the CSR, there is a significant risk that they will simply withdraw from tourism activities.
This means that, apart from a small allocation to RDAs from DCMS, the Government has little ability to direct RDAs or LAs to co-ordinate their activity with those of VisitEngland or VisitBritain.
What is Required
The current issues associated with the structure and funding of tourism in Britain are rooted in the number of devolved administrations and Government Departments now involved in the funding of tourism development and marketing.
Improving the co-ordination of this myriad of tourism structures and funding streams is something that needs to be done through a review at a cross-Governmental level – it cannot be achieved through an internal review by the sponsored body of one of the Government Departments.
The Tourism Alliance therefore believes that, in addition to the current VisitBritain review, the Government must establish an independent review of the Development of Tourism Act 1969, which sets the overall structure of tourism support in the UK and other arrangements required for efficient strategic co-operation between all key players.
While the two reviews are underway, and irrespective of their findings, there needs to be an immediate one-off allocation of £20m to VisitBritain to develop and implement the Government's new tourism strategy for maximising the tourism benefits associated with hosting the 2012 Olympics. The VisitBritain Board will allocate these funds as determined in consultation with the national and regional tourism agencies, through their representation at the VisitBritain Board.
An independent Governmental review, combined with a one-off Olympics allocation will also allow VisitBritain's senior management to focus their energies on developing and implementing initiatives to maximise the Olympic legacy rather than being sidetracked into undertaking a review that has little chance of addressing the fundamental issues facing the tourism industry.
Unless these actions are undertaken, the Tourism Alliance believes that the Government risks squandering the potential £2.1bn tourism-related benefit associated with the Games at a time when it should be seizing the opportunity and providing strong and clear leadership to the sector for 2012 and the legacy to tourism and the nation beyond. VisitBritain will provide the best support to the industry if allowed to get on with the job of promoting, rather than being sucked in to the administration of reviews.
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For further information, please contact:Kurt Janson, Policy Director, Tourism Alliance; tel: 020 7395 8246 – mob: 07946428123
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