DCMS injects cash to market rural tourism

23 August 2007 by
DCMS injects cash to market rural tourism

The Government's cash boost for rural tourism marketing has been welcomed by trade associations, but experts say it must be spent wisely if it is to have a significant effect.

The cash injection for beleaguered rural tourist locations comprises £750,000 of new money from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and £250,000 in freed budgets at VisitBritain, which the DCMS described as a message that "Britain is back open for business" following a washed-out summer season.

"B&Bs make up a large part of the accommodation available in rural areas, and any impact on them has a knock-on effect on the rural economy."

British Hospitality Association chief executive Bob Cotton gave a cautious welcome to the funds, which were signed off after a meeting last week by tourism emergency response body Tiergroup. He said: "I do not want to see Yorkshire, the West Midlands and the South-west with separate campaigns all competing with each other. On this occasion they need to work together."

VisitBritain has an annual budget of £13.4m for marketing the UK as a tourist destination overseas and England to the rest of the UK.

Kurt Janson, policy director at the Tourism Alliance, said: "It is not just the economic value of the money it is the political value of it. This is the first time since 2001 that the Government has put any additional funds into the tourism budget. It is a vote of confidence for tourism that is equally as important to tourism as the funds themselves."

Janson added that the funding, while appearing to be a small amount in marketing terms, would go far under VisitBritain's tutelage, which averages a return of £35 on every £1 it spends on marketing campaigns.

What can £750,000 buy you?

  • Nine 30-second adverts on ITV during Coronation Street
  • A 1,001-horsepower Bugatti Veyron sports car
  • A restaurant-orientated pub with 30 covers and four-bedroom accommodation in the Wiltshire-Berkshire borders
  • A one-bedroom flat in Chelsea
  • 411 cows

BHA gives government's £1m marketing cash boost cautious welcome >>

Government to give rural UK marketing fund boost >>

Hospitality flood cost likely to be millions >>

By Christopher Walton

E-mail your comments to Christopher Walton](mailto:christopher.walton@rbi.co.uk?subject=DCMS injects cash to market rural tourism) here.

[The Caterer Blog](http://www.caterersearch.com/blogs/catering-news-blog/) Catch up with more news and gossip on the Caterer Blog here
[Newswire For the latest hospitality news, sign up for our e-mail news alerts.
The Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email

Start the working day with The Caterer’s free breakfast briefing email

Sign Up and manage your preferences below

Check mark icon
Thank you

You have successfully signed up for the Caterer Breakfast Briefing Email and will hear from us soon!

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.

close

Ad Blocker detected

We have noticed you are using an adblocker and – although we support freedom of choice – we would like to ask you to enable ads on our site. They are an important revenue source which supports free access of our website's content, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

trade tracker pixel tracking