DID YOU KNOW?

Tourism in UK

• Tourism is currently the UK's fifth largest industry, valued at £86 billion.

• Directly employs over 1.4 million people.

• The spend by UK residents on tourism in the UK is valued at £62 billion, and by international tourists at £24 billion.

• Direct and indirect benefits of tourism worth 8.2% of GDP

• Direct and indirect employment of 2.65 million people

• More than manufacturing

• More than engineering

• Estimated that the industry could provide an additional 164,000 jobs and an extra £27 billion of revenue by 2018.

• Tourism currently supports c. 200,000 SMEs.

• Gain to tourism of 2012 Olympics is estimated at 32 million UK wide extra visitor nights

Tourism in the West Midlands

After assuming responsibility for tourism, the Regional Development Agency for the West Midlands, Advantage West Midlands, in common with other RDAs, funded a number of sub-regional and regional strategies to determine the approach to the tourism cluster.

It concluded that it would continue to fund the Heart of England Tourist Board whilst encouraging the formation of Destination Membership Partnerships. Those formed included the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Herefordshire, Warwickshire and the Black Country Partnership. These joined what AWM considered to be existing DMPs, namely Marketing Birmingham and CV One in Coventry.

A later decision was taken to cease funding for the Heart of England Tourist Board, which dissolved as an independent organisation, and part of this structure was taken in- house by AWM to provide a regional strategic overview to complement the activity of the DMP's and to initiate and manage certain regional activities, e.g. domestic marketing campaigns, research and tourism awards.

A private/ public sector Board, Tourism West Midlands, was formed to oversee the work of AWM and the DMP's within the tourism sector and to set strategic direction. From an early stage, AWM made the firm decision not to fund structure within DMPs, unlike other RDA's, a decision which may yet prove, in the current climate, to be sensible.

Tourism in Staffordshire

Leisure Tourism is valued at £902 million (2008) which equates to 17% of the West Midlands. (£183 million in Stoke).

18.6 million visits

4.5 million nights stay

provides 23,353 jobs in the tourism sector (6% of all employment), 3,588 jobs in Stoke alone

Business Tourism is valued at £600 million.