Written evidence submitted by VisitBritain

About VisitBritain:

The BTA (British Tourist Authority) is the national tourism agency, operating as a non-departmental public body funded by DCMS. VisitBritain promotes Britain overseas and is a delivery partner of the Cabinet Office’s GREAT campaign. We have offices in 19 countries across the globe, representing over 70% of the inbound value to Britain, and are often co-located with FCDO colleagues.

Our role is to promote Britain as a destination to grow tourism value and volume and support the visitor economy.

As well as international marketing, we support the wider visitor economy by ensuring Britain is sold in international markets - connecting trade partners, hosting events to connect buyers and suppliers, and promoting positive stories of Britain to the international media and using our social and digital channels. We also have a business events team that pitches for events in key sectors from AI to life sciences be hosted in the UK.

VisitEngland’s role is to focus on domestic tourism promotion and the relationship with Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), and also offers support to the industry through the Business Advice Hub. Between 2015-2020 VisitEngland administered the £50m Discover England Fund which saw the establishment of bookable product across the country.

The BTA also has a statutory duty to advise Government on tourism policy, to do this we draw on our expertise, industry engagement, and detailed research.

Importance of tourism

For 2023, VisitBritain forecast that there will 37.5 million inbound visitors, 92% of the 2019 level. Inbound visitors are forecast to spend £30.9 billion in the UK economy - 109% of the 2019 level in nominal terms, 90% in real terms when taking inflation into account.
Pre-pandemic, the visitor economy supported 3.1m jobs and over 200,000 SMEs across the country. It also constituted the UK’s 3rd largest service export.

Impact of British film and television sector on international visitor preferences

The UK’s globally renowned film and television industry contributes to the strength of the British tourism sector. Research shows that film and television is a key motivator when for visitors when they choose where to go.
Sources of inspiration: VisitBritain research into sources of inspiration for last trip found that ‘international movies or television programmes/series’ is a source of inspiration for 24% of respondents [1].

This metric is more significant for visitors to Britain than elsewhere abroad, where it was 17%.
‘Places my children see or hear about on kids’ TV, movies or from friends at school’ was an inspiration source for 19% of respondents who visited Britain, higher than the 15% for those who visited elsewhere abroad.

Desired activities by future visitors: When visiting Britain, 42% of respondents want to ‘visit literary, music, film and TV locations, once again highlighting the visibility and appeal of Britain’s film, television and wider creative sector [2].
Activities undertaken by previous visitors: IPS data shows that 5% of all inbound visits to Britain incorporate visiting literary, music, TV, and film locations [3].

This amounts to 2.2 million visits with a total spend of £2.1 billion.
In London, 7% of visits include visiting literary, music, TV and film locations, with 6% in the South West, 5% in the North East, Scotland, and the East of England. This highlights how the strength of the British film and tv sector can result in international visitors going to film locations across the country.

The British Film Institute (BFI) have further data about the economic significance of film tourism related inbound visits to Britain.

In 2019, inbound visitors spent an estimated £892.6m in film-related screen tourism in the UK [4]. The BFI also state that tourism is most notable spillover impacts for the screen sector. “In the case of tourism, attractions, hotels and restaurants experience higher income and employment on account of tourism visits stimulated by the desire to visit filming locations or settings”.

How VisitBritain capitalise on interest in British film and television

As outlined in the previous sections, there is strong evidence that film and television is a motivator for visitors to Britain. As the national tourist authority, VisitBritain leverage this interest to encourage visitors to book their trip, converting inspiration into bookings.

We are currently exploring using Britain’s iconic film and television history in VisitBritain’s next GREAT-funded international marketing campaign as a hook to encourage more visitors to book their trip to Britain and travel to destinations and attractions across the country.

VisitBritain’s consumer website contains numerous references to film and tv locations and experiences for visitors looking for inspiration and information [5], capitalising on visitor demand.

There is a dedicated ‘Great Britain on screen’ landing page. It features locations and experiences right across the UK connected to films and tv shows from Harry Potter and James Bond, to Bridgerton and Peaky Blinders. The page is available in French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian. An Arabic version will be launching this autumn.
There are several film and television related experiences available to purchase on the VisitBritain shop including a Doctor Who walking tour, Liverpool film walk, and the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour.

VisitBritain organise educational trips for overseas travel trade to visit different destinations and attractions across the country to support them in selling these destinations to their customers.

As well as often featuring locations that have been used as filming locations like Windsor Castle and Edinburgh Castle, some educational visitors often feature specific film related tourism experiences. For example, in early 2023, a group from China took part in a Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter and literary London walking tour, while groups from the Netherlands and Canada took part in a Bath and Bridgerton walking tour.