London’s tourism industry

• Contributes £36bn to London’s

economy
• 1 in 7 jobs
• 11% of GDP
• Increase since 2012 Olympics but
slight decrease since 2017
 TOP 10 UK Visitor Attractions
1. Tate Modern

(3)National Gallery,
2. British Museum
3. National Gallery
4. Natural History Museum,
South Kensington
N° 5 Brighton Pier
6. Victoria & Albert Museum
South Kensington
7. Science Museum,
South Kensington
8. Somerset
House (arts &
cultural centre +
large
impressionist
collection)
9. National Portrait Gallery
10. British Library
 London’s top paid attractions
1. Tower of London
2. Kew Gardens
3. St Paul’s Cathedral
4. The Royal Academy of Arts
5. Westminster Abbey
 Cultural Heritage Tourism

• 100 major museums

• + 800 art galleries
• 4 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• 350 live music venues
4 Unesco World Heritage Sites
- Maritime Greenwich
Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
• 80% of visitors come for the « culture
and heritage »
• 90% satisfaction rate at cultural
attractions
• Supports 80,000 jobs
• London’s cultural offer is eclectic and
international
- 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square
- Frieze Art Fair, London Film Festival
The mayor’s plans for the capital’s
culture
• Creation of the « London Pass »
• Cultural Infrastructure Plan for 2030 to
protect and expand our cultural
facilities. Recognition of London as a
global capital for arts and culture.
• Introduce a London Borough of Culture
to bring communities together and
celebrate diversity
Visitor markets forecasts →2025
• Core markets set to continue (US,
France, German, Spain and Italy)

• Largest growth markets – China

and India
(+ United Arab Emirates)
The Chinese market
• Potential - Chinese passport
holders could increase by 100m
over the next decade (at present
less than 10% of the population

• Spending power
 The mayor’s
« Tourism Vision for London »
They come to experience London’s
outstanding cultural offering, our history and
heritage, world-class museums, architecture,
nightlife, parks and waterways. But
increasingly they come to explore what it is to
be a Londoner, to find London’s hidden gems,
to explore our varied and unique
neighbourhoods, and to experience our
distinctive and diverse retail and food
offering.”

(S. Khan, 2016)

The Mayor’s plan for tourism
4 recommendations
• Invest in pre-visit promotion to increase
first-time visitors and visits out of season
• Invest in information about lesser known
parts of the city
• Invest in infrastructure to sustain and
accommodate increasing numbers
• More infrastructure for business visits
 Challenges ahead
• UK’s departure from EU
Future of recruitment? 25% of
employees in tourism come from EU.

Potential restrictions on European

airlines post Brexit
• Simplify the visa process for
Asian visitors

• Need to increase aviation

capacity and accommodation
capacity to keep up with visitor
demand
Promotional bodies for London’s tourism
London & Partners
• Mayor’s promotional company
Mission?
Promote London as a great city in which to
invest, work, study and visit.
Purpose? Deliver jobs and growth for
London by attracting investment and
visitors.
Partnerships with key cultural institutions
 Promoting London as a place for
international business
• http://www.londonandpartners.com/
what-we-do/international-business

• Help overseas business set up in

the City (1500 since 2011)

• Help London businesses to expand

internationally (tech sector)
 London & Partners and
Leisure Tourism
• Digital marketing
–Manage the website
visitlondon.com to communicate
with visitors during “trip lifecycles”.
– Social media platforms
–Visit London App
 International marketing
programmes
“Autumn Season” – global campaign
promoting London’s culture, since
2017

https://www.londonandpartners.com/w
hat-we-do/case-study-autumn-season-
of-culture
Fans of London 4 short films on 4 themes:
royalty, Shakespeare, film and music each
star an American ‘super fan’
Paddington Pop-Ups 2017
• Dot London
One of the first cities to get its own internet
address
Advantages?
Reinforces London’s iconic brand.
Raise companies’ profile

How is Dot London promoted?

- partnerships The Londonist
- digital art campaign Dot to Dot
- Dot London Small Business Awards.
Major cultural and sporting events
• London&Partners help to attract
and host major sporting and cultural
events

→Media attention
→ More visitors and more money to
London’s economy.
Examples: Ride London
Lumiere London Light Festival
Examples of « Smart Solutions »
to improve visitor experience
• Demand for easier access to
information from tech-savvy
tourists
• Investment in Smart tourism
For example The Visit London
Official City Guide App →
• App created from a partnership
between Mastercard and
London&Partners

• Designed to improve the visitor

experience in London.
“London leads the way here, but it still has an
opportunity to make its 19.1m visitors’ lives even
easier. Why should so many people have to visit
so many websites to plan their schedule when
they can do it with one app that even allows
them to book and pay for everything they
need?”

(Jason Lane, Mastercard)

 How does it work?
• Real-time data feeds and links to
transport databases to guide tourists
around

• Uses geolocation to suggest places of

interest

• Gives recommendations for places to

eat
• Visitors can create personnalised itineraries

• Highlights London’s hidden gems

• Mastercard digital payments technology to

buy advance tickets

• Thanks to « masterpass » visitors can make

their purchases within the app.
 Smart hotels
• Eccleston Square Hotel: i-pads,
smart-glass walls, smartphones
• Premier Inn chain

New hi-tech room concept -

« hub » (control your room from
your smartphone)
 London-Paris partnership in
response to Brexit
• Joint tourism scheme launched
2018
Sharing of resources

• Paris-London Business Welcome

Programme
Help for start-ups
Is there a problem of « overtourism »
in London?
• London&Partners says « not yet »
• But, effort to promote outer boroughs to spread
numbers and spending

What are the future challenges for London’s

tourism industry?
• How to increase visitors AND manage its growth
by promoting lesser known areas outside centre
• How to face the potential consequences of Brexit.