UKinbound was delighted to bring 25 of its leading tour operator buyers to the cities of Bristol and Bath this weekend in partnership with Visit West, as part of its Discover Workshop programme.
These events connect trade buyers from across the country (that sell UK holidays to international visitors) with a range of local businesses including attractions, sightseeing companies and hotels, that want to attract more international visitors.
Image: Trade buyers visiting Brunel's SS Great Britain in Bristol during the Discover Bristol & Bath event
Having travelled to the region via Great Western Railway, buyers took part in over 400 appointments in a morning of speed dating-style meetings with local businesses, and visited a number of local attractions including Brunel’s SS Great Britian, Wake the Tiger Amazement Park, The Roman Baths and Mary Shelley’s House of Frankenstein.
Image: Trade buyers visiting the Wake the Tiger Amazement Park in Bristol during the Discover Bristol & Bath event
Inbound (international) tourism to the UK is an incredibly valuable export sector as international visitors generally stay longer and spend more helping to improve the productivity of the visitor economy. In 2022, there were an estimated 800,000 international staying trip visits to the Visit West region, generating more than £370m to the local economy and supporting thousands of jobs in the industry. This is down however from the record 1.1m international staying visits in 2019 with a spend of £400m. Further international passenger survey (IPS) data expected in late May of this year will give more insight into inbound visits during 2023.
Image: Trade buyers on a Tootbus Bath open-top bus tour of Bath during the Discover Bristol & Bath event
Joss Croft OBE, CEO of UKInbound said: “Bristol and Bath have so much to offer international travellers looking to visit the UK, and I’m really pleased that we were able to bring this fantastic group of buyers to the region, giving them opportunity to see what’s on offer and how they can incorporate theses cities into the itineraries they sell to international visitors.”
Image: Trade buyers visiting Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein in Bath during the Discover Bristol & Bath event
Kathryn Davis, Managing Director, Visit West said: “I am delighted that the Discover Bath and Bristol event has been a huge success. We have been able to showcase some of the region’s key trade ready businesses to buyers representing global business and support local organisations to develop new routes to market through the travel trade. Working with the trade opens huge opportunities and our membership of, and close working relationship with UKInbound, is critical to this success.”
For further information, or to request an interview with Kathryn Davis, please contact emma.frayling@visitwest.co.uk.
Notes to editors:
About UKinbound - UKinbound is a leading travel trade association and the only one which focuses solely on the interests of the UK’s inbound tourism sector. It has over 400 members including tour operators, destination management companies, accommodation providers, attractions, destination marketing organisations and service providers including restaurants, transport, retail, ticketing and professional services. UKinbound addresses and engages with Government, the media, travel trade and the general public to raise awareness of inbound tourism’s significant impact on the UK economy and drives a return for its members.
About Visit West: The VisitEngland accredited official Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) for Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset. It supports the visitor economy of the region which is worth £2.13 billion and supports 41,000 jobs. Visit West operates the Meet Bristol & Bath Convention Bureau and the Visit Bath and Visit Bristol consumer websites. https://www.visitwest.co.uk/.
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