Spreading the word of value in the UK begins

Over 50 Britain and Ireland-based travel and tourism suppliers and 90 buyers from all over the world met on Tuesday, the first day of Destination Britain and Ireland 2009.

Participating suppliers included ApartmentStay, ACP Rail, Visit Manchester, Blenheim Palace, The Big Bus Company, CHR Travel, The Leisure Pass Group, Dublin Tourism and Historic Scotland, just to name a few.

“[Destination Britain & Ireland] is an opportunity for UK suppliers to demonstrate the great value the region has to offer” said Keith Beecham, Visit Britain Overseas Network Director to e-Travel Blackboard in an interview.

‘Value’ is the recurring theme for this year’s event which surrounds the Britain’s capitalisation on the low fares, hotel rates and weaker pound to draw more tourism numbers.

Similarly, Ireland has gotten on the bandwagon despite the considerable drop of the sterling. It hopes to capture market attention as a must-see destination before or after visiting the traditional iconic city of London.

The Australian market is still a favourite, Beecham saying that the Australians are the “most loyal” visitors with a booming VFR sector. He adds the New Zealand market is similar.

Destination Britain & Ireland is also serving the purpose of creating long-term business opportunities between suppliers and buyers from rapidly growing markets such as India, China and the Middle East.

According to Beecham, there is a 5 to 6 percent increase in year-on-year arrivals from India into Britain. He believes the figure will only increase due to an open skies agreement between the two countries, subsequently creating more capacity and competition between airlines.

For the ensuing 2009 Beecham will work with VisitBritain’s 35 offices worldwide to instil travel confidence into potential visitors by spreading awareness of Britain’s value for money.