Two briefing notes from the Tourism Alliance
The Tourism Alliance has kindly provided two documents which I am sharing with you as our members.
The first is a brief overview of the key points for tourism arising from the Chancellor’s Spring Statement made this afternoon; a summary that negates the immediate need for you or I to have to trawl through the full statement to find out what is most pertinent to our national and your local partners.
Of most strategic interest I thought is the confirmation of the CSR (Comprehensive Spending Review) timetable to be complete by Autumn (tight in the circumstances?) and the announcement of a review of the tax status of global tech companies. It will be interesting to see if the promised review will be wide enough to embraces the global, online travel agents and sharing accommodation platforms that now proliferate in our industry and not simply focus on the handful of truly global giants of online commerce and social media:
2019 Spring Statement – Key Points for Tourism
The second document is the notes from yesterday’s VisitBritain Tier Group meeting (Tourism Industry Emergency Reaction Group) which met to discuss the impacts of Brexit. Not unsurprisingly the main feature of discussion was on the international market. The few comments recorder relating to the domestic market were generally positive. A useful note, potentially worth sharing with local partners? Further bi monthly meeting are planned.
Based on previous experience I have to admit to being nervous about the seemingly natural tendency to assume that anything that serves to depress out bound tourism is bound to be good for the domestic market and everyone reliant on it. If only domestic tourism and the drivers of the visitor economy were that simple:
2019 VisitBritain Tourism Industry Emergency Response Group 12 Mar
British Destinations 