London propelled into Lonely Planet’s list of best value destinations

The plunging pound has propelled London into Lonely Planet’s top ten list of the world’s best value destinations. The trouble is that prospective inbound visitors are still not aware that London and the UK now offer great value for those spending other currencies, according to UKinbound.

Recent research sponsored by VisitBritain revealed that even though the broadsheet newspapers around the world indicate that sterling is significantly cheaper against most currencies than it was a couple of years ago, the majority of consumers are still not aware of this. Where the “value for money” message is understood, there is a significant uplift in the likelihood to visit Britain. Helping consumers understand this could bring significant growth to Britain’s inbound tourism industry.

Mary Rance Chief Executive of UKinbound said:

“2010 could be a bumper year for inbound tourism but never has it been more important that the ‘value message’ is promoted overseas and in a way that is easy to understand.

“VisitBritain and Visit London have been working hard to spread the message that the UK is now better value but with Government funding cuts and restructuring necessitated as a result, this inevitably impacts on available spend for marketing campaigns.

“Spreading the value message widely would be an investment which could bring rapid return to the industry and to the economy. It costs only £14 to attract a new visitor to the UK and this one visitor provides the exchequer with over £30 in VAT payments alone - not to mention the direct spending on products and services that support tourism jobs across the country and particularly for the young, who have been hit hardest by the rapid rises in unemployment. So it’s clear that the return on investment in funding tourism marketing is high.

“That Lonely Planet has voted London one of the world’s ten best value destinations is great news for the UK tourism industry, but overseas marketing through our tourism boards is the best way of promoting travel to the UK. UKinbound will continue to lobby for adequate funding for overseas marketing to ensure that this great window of opportunity is not missed.”