Visit Britain: A Sense of Optimism in the Air

London’s luxury hotels are opening up. There’s live music in some of the country’s famous pubs. And there are plenty of wide-open spaces for visitors to enjoy.

Things are definitely improving in terms of tourism in Great Britain, officials said on a Zoom call on Wednesday.

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“The mood is reasonably buoyant,” said Kate Nicholls, CEO of UK Hospitality.

Nicholls said central London hasn’t fared so well, but that means a lack of crowds for visitors. Coastal and rural areas of Great Britain have been quite popular this summer, she said.

Operators in some of those areas could start to break even later this year, she added.

Gavin Landry, Director Americas for Visit Britain, said the tourism sector is a vital part of the British economy, accounting for 10% of the country’s GDP. It’s also four times the size of the British automobile sector.

With visitation limited, Visit Britain this summer staged a campaign called “Enjoy Summer Safely.” Fall is more or less a “staycation” theme. Visit Britain had hoped to start a short-haul European visitation program soonbut probably will put that off until sometime in the fall, he said.

One angle they’ll be marketing is Food and Wine.

“People still think about fish and chips or bangers and mash when they talk about British food, but we have 150 Michelin-starred restaurants,” he said. “That’s a lot for a small country.”

Nicholls said many museums and other visitor attractions are open (sadly not West End live theatre), but with reduced capacity due to social distancing rules. That means it’s important for visitors to pre-book tickets for popular attractions.

Officials said Great Britain has one of the most robust anti-COVID19 programs in the world, and that there hasn’t been a virus case yet that’s been linked to poor practices in the hospitality industry.

In fact, Landry said a medical conference recently booked a 450-person event for Sheffield, England for 2022.

Nicholls said officials expect Great Britain could rebound to 2019 tourism levels by 2022 or 2023.

Tourism reps concede the requirement for visitors from some countries, including Canada, to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival is a stumbling block for foreign visitation. But many folks from North America have chosen to visit anyway, and some hotels and resorts are creating special 14-day packages that make it a lot more pleasant to undergo a quarantine period.

Officials are working with governments on the issue and hope they can at least reduce the amount of time that visitors have to quarantine.

Canadians, for now, have to quarantine for 14 days upon their return to Canada as well.