Britain & Ireland Marketplace (BIM) is a key B2B workshop that provides a platform for connecting international travel trade buyers with tourism suppliers and destinations from across the UK and Ireland. Visit West's Head of Marketing, Jon Chamberlain, attended the event again this year to represent our membership across the Bath & Bristol region.
Image - Meetings taking place at BIM2025 (credit ETOA)
Duing the event, held at the InterContinental London - The O2 hotel, Jon had 35 pre-scheduled meetings each lasting nine minutes. This was further boosted by more informal networking during breaks and free-flow meting slots. He reports, "BIM is one of the first events on the calendar each year as it is such a valuable, if exhausting, day with so many meetings all happening under one roof. It was good to make many new contacts as well as catching up with some more established ones. It was reassuring to hear of the desire to further expand international business into the West of England region from so many buyers. Some barriers still remain, with the ability to contract FIT rates at accommodation businesses top of the pile - although this is not unique to our area. I look forward to working with our members further to help them increase the number of international visitors to their businesses, boosting value to our destinations."
BIM is an event organised by the Euopean Tour Operators Association (ETOA) in collaboration with VisitBritain and UKinbound and the event started with a welcome by Tom Jenkins, Joss Croft and Patricia Yates.
Image - the welcome address at BIM2025 (credit ETOA)
Familiaristion visits
Visit West worked closely with VisitBritain and other destination organisations to secure familiarisation visits from groups of buyers both before and after the BIM event. This was part of the national tourist authority's Showcase Britain event, where they brought more than 120 international travel trade buyers to the country for BIM and familiarisation visits as well as a day of seminars held at Hampton Court Palace, near London.
Image - South Korean travel trade buyers at John Wesley's New Room in Bristol (credit Visit West)
A delegation from South Korea visited Bristol for 24 hours after a packed programme in the West Midlands. In 2023, the UK welcomed 182,000 visits from South Korea. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was £218.8 million, with an average spend of £1,204 per visit. Words associated with Britain by visitors from South Korea include ‘educational’, ‘fascinating’, and ‘romantic’.
Visits by the group included Clifton Suspension Bridge, John Wesley's New Room, Bristol Packet Boat Trips and Brunel's SS Great Britain. We also worked with Vox Group to provide the group with headsets and translations.
Image - French travel trade buyers at Jane Austen Centre in Bath learning all about Austen250 (credit Visit West)
Post-BIM, the buyers from France spent two days exploring both Bath and Bristol before venturing onwards to Cardiff in collaboration with Visit Wales. In 2023, the UK welcomed 3.2 million visits from France. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was a record £1.6 billion, with an average spend of £515 per visit. 45% of all visits to the UK from France are made by those aged 25 to 44.
A packed itinerary included visits with Roman Baths, The Holburne Musuem's brand new 'Walking in the Footsteps of Queen Charlotte' tour, TOOTBus, Jane Austen Centre, Mary Shelley's House of Frankenstein, Wake The Tiger, Aerospace Bristol, Food Tours of Bristol, Brunel's SS Great Britain and a street art workshop with GRAFT.
Image - French travel trade buyers experiencing a street art workshop with GRAFT in Bristol (credit Visit West)
To find out more about our presence at Britain and Ireland Marketplace, including advice on attending in 2026, please get in touch.
Useful links:
- BIM page on European Tour Operators Association website
- Travel Trade Ready - free online training model for Visit West members
- VisitBritain inbound market data resources
- Follow Bath & Bristol Travel Trade on LinkedIn
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