Following a government meeting on 15 November to examine the tourism opportunities hosting the 2012 London Olympics will bring, UKinbound chief executive Stephen Dowd has accused ministers of enacting “a cynical political ploy to shift the spotlight from their woeful record on tourism issues”.

Attendees at the 10 Downing Street breakfast meeting included the Prime Minister, the chair of tourism marketing body VisitBritain, Lord Marshall, culture secretary Tessa Jowell, tourism minister, James Purnell, Lord Coe and chief executive of the British Hospitality Association, Bob Cotton.

It is understood that Lord Marshall used the meeting to lobby for a tourism ‘tsar’ to provide a more cohesive approach to the sector and for the implementation of various reforms to unite the UK’s fragmented tourism industry.

In the meeting, the Prime Minister pledged that funding and other support for tourism will be fully co-ordinated at national, regional and local levels and that the interests of tourism would be fully taken into account in all Olympic policy decisions.

A group called Tourism 2012 is also to be established, which will deliver a comprehensive tourism strategy for 2012 by spring 2006.

Following the meeting, culture secretary Tessa Jowell criticised the productivity of the tourism industry, saying: “The Olympics in London in 2012 provide a great opportunity for tourism. But in order to realise this ambition, the industry needs to improve the consistency of its quality, raise the level of skill, and through imaginative marketing showcase Britain’s heritage and its dynamic, 21st century cities.

In response, UKinbound’s Stephen Dowd said that, while the Statement of Intent issued by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) shortly after the meeting was “worthy”, it lacked any meaningful content and “will do little to address the real issues facing the UK tourism industry in the run up to the 2012 Games”.

“This was a cynical political ploy by the DCMS to shift the spotlight from their woeful record on tourism issues," he said. "The quality of UK tourism products and services stand comparison with the best in the world and our workers are as productive as all our main competitors.”

Dowd maintained that, instead of improving quality and consistency as the government suggested, the real barriers to the UK visitor economy realising the full potential of the 2012 Olympic Games were a lack of competitiveness in a price-sensitive global market and the failure of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) to provide a co-ordinated and cohesive structure for tourism in England.

If the government addresses these issues with “tangible action, not rhetoric”, then the level of skill and quality needed will be achieved, claimed Dowd.

A further suggestion for change came from Lord Marshall the night before the government meeting. Speaking at the annual dinner of The Tourism Society on 15 November, he said it was time, he said, for the government to look hard at replacing the out of date "straitjacket" of the 1969 Development of Tourism Act, "with a visionary new policy for this century".

He also highlighted the challenges facing the domestic visitor economy, including terrorism and climate change. But he reminded them that unprecedented opportunities lay ahead, with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the opening up of Asian and East European Markets.

In England, funding for bodies such as Visit London, the 560 tourist information centres and the eight RDAs is distributed through a mix of local and national sources alongside different government departments such as the DCMS and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

According to recent figures, Britain’s tourism industry employs 2.1 million people and comprises more than 180,000 businesses while almost £14bn is spent annually by foreign visitors in Britain. Details: www.visitbritain.com/corporate

See also Leisure Management November/December 2005 p44: Industry Opinion: How Can Government Support Tourism?

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