UK tourism suppliers are set to show top buyers from India, The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and North Asia why Britain is the destination to visit now, as VisitBritain gears up to host its ‘Destination Britain Middle East and Asia’ trade mission for the first time in India.
Taking place from 20-to-22 November in Bengaluru, India, the three-day trade event sees dozens of UK tourism industry suppliers from across the nations and regions meet to do business with more than 70 top buyers from India, the GCC, Japan and South Korea, to drive business to Britain.
India is a very important visitor market for the UK and Bengaluru’s ease of access and leading facilities and delegate offer makes the city ideally placed to host this major trade event.
Hundreds of pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings are taking place, alongside networking events and seminars from destinations across Britain, showcasing the latest products and experiences on offer. International buyers will have the opportunity to learn about Britain’s premier export-ready tourism products and its competitive visitor offer, broadening travel itineraries to drive visitor spending into regional economies.
VisitBritain CEO Patricia Yates, who is leading the trade mission to India, said:
“This major trade mission brings our very important and highly valuable Asia and GCC markets together with UK suppliers to do business, shining the spotlight on the fantastic products and experiences on offer across Britain and making sure those are sold in international markets.
Building product and destination knowledge also broadens travel itineraries, so visitors explore more of Britain including through our regional gateways, spreading the benefits of visitor spending across our nations and regions.
The size of our delegation shows the enthusiasm from UK tourism suppliers to do business across these markets and to hear first-hand from buyers on the motivations and trends driving outbound travel. We are looking forward to showcasing our warm welcome as well as all the great reasons to book a trip to Britain right now.”
Chandru Iyer, British Deputy High Commissioner to Karnataka and Kerala, said:
“I am delighted to see a very well attended Destination Britain Middle East & Asia held in the wonderful and bustling city of Bengaluru, with representatives from the UK and other countries who do a stellar role of promoting tourism in Britain. Tourism is an important part of the ‘Living Bridge’ that promotes people to people connect as well as helps to develop a greater understanding of our cultural landscape.
Apart from contributing to the economy, tourism is an enabler of promoting Education, Trade, Investment, and much more. Looking at the overall inbound tourism to UK, we’re seeing a strong growth in value from the Middle East and Asia region, with India forecast to be a billion-pound visitor market by 2026.”
Suppliers joining the trade mission include hotels, visitor attractions, transport providers, retailers, tour and sightseeing operators spanning the length-and-breadth of the nations and regions.
Visit Wales and destinations including Cumbria Tourism, Marketing Manchester, NewcastleGateshead Initiative, Visit West and West Midlands Growth Company are also attending, highlighting products and experiences available across their respective regions.
VisitBritain’s teams in market will also be running seminars to support UK tourism suppliers to engage and do business with trade from across India, the Gulf, Japan and South Korea, providing insights on market and consumer trends.
The trade mission comes as VisitBritain gets set to roll out its international ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign. Launching early 2025, the campaign will use the powerful draw of film and tv locations and places seen-on-screen to inspire visitors to discover more of Britain. VisitBritain’s latest research shows that among those visitors considering a trip to the UK, nine out of ten surveyed across 20 markets would be interested in visiting a film or tv location. Among Indians considering a trip to the UK, 94% express interest in visiting film and TV locations, surpassing the global average of 91%.
India is projected to become a billion-pound visitor market by 2026. In 2023, Indian visitors spent a record £804 million during 604,000 visits to the UK. VisitBritain’s latest statistics from January to June 2024 show a record spend of £417 million, a 20% increase compared to 2023, along with a record 351,000 visits, reflecting a 27% rise from the previous year.
