Senior travel trade bosses from the world’s leading tourism companies are to visit major British destinations as guests of national tourism agency VisitBritain. The agency’s aim is to show overseas tourism chiefs some of the UK’s highlights in order to boost visitor numbers from overseas.
CEOs from the increasingly important markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China are among the influential delegates travelling to Britain for the national tourist board’s World Travel Leaders Summit taking place 4 – 6 August.
Before the summit VisitBritain’s directors will escort delegates on tours of Bath and the Cotswolds, Liverpool and the Lake District, Scotland and Wales.
Highlights of the tours will include private visits to Cardiff Castle, Wales’ National Museum of Art and dinner at Park House cooked by Michelin Star chef Roger Jones; The Beatles Story and Lowther Castle in Liverpool and the Lakes; a private tour of Blenheim Palace and dinner at Bath’s Pump Room in the Cotswolds; the opening night of the Edinburgh Tattoo, a malt whisky tasting and a seaplane ride to Loch Lomond.
VisitBritain’s Chief Executive Sandie Dawe says: “We organised our World Travel Leaders Summit to take place during the greatest sporting and cultural festival in British history. It is a fantastic opportunity to show influential tourism chiefs the sheer diversity of what Britain can offer overseas holidaymakers. The Opening Ceremony has already provided a stunning advert for Britain and we want to build on that and ensure that the travel trade is featuring Britain in its brochures and selling Britain to its customers”
After the tours of the regions, the business leaders will meet VisitBritain’s Chairman Christopher Rodrigues in London to talk about both the opportunities and the barriers to selling Britain abroad. During the weekend of the Summit there will be a networking evening at Harrods for delegates to meet VisitBritain’s marketing partners and John Penrose MP, Minister for Tourism and Heritage and talk about how all the partners can work together to grow inbound tourism to Britain.
On Sunday the delegates will visit the Olympic Park and watch some of the Games to experience the atmosphere.
Delegates include tourism chiefs from leading tourism and travel companies TUI Europe, Thomas Cook India, CAISSA Touristic from China, Globus and the Japan Association of Travel Agents.
