Visit West celebrated English Tourism Week (14-23 March 2025) in style, with an action-packed agenda to raise the profile of the industry and the region.
Tourism Minister Sir Chris Bryant MP visited Bath last Tuesday with Visit West – the Local Visitor Economy Partnership – highlighting the value of the region’s travel industry. With Bath at the centre of the national Jane Austen 250 programme, and synonymous with one of the world’s biggest global streaming programmes, Bridgerton, the minister visited key locations including The Holburne Museum, and the Jane Austen Centre, and met associated curators and directors, as well as learning about the new Fashion Museum.
During a roundtable discussion, he met with several people from local government and industry to discuss key issues such as planning, regional dispersal, investment and opportunities to help further the region’s growth.
The Minister commented, “Bath is one of the most beautiful cities in this country and a place that is renowned for tourism across the world. It’s an extraordinary place for people to come and visit.”
The minister’s visit was followed by Patricia Yates – CEO of VisitBritain/VisitEngland – who also came to the region during English Tourism Week, giving a speech at the Visit West annual Visitor Economy conference on Thursday 20 March, held at We the Curious in Bristol.
Focusing on the opportunities for local businesses to utilise the current VisitBritain campaign ‘Starring Great Britain’ which taps into screen tourism, Patricia Yates also highlighted the region’s film and TV credentials, including The Bottle Yard Studios, which she visited during her stay in the area.
More than 240 people attended the conference which saw Bristol Film Office, Bath Film Office and North Somerset Council featured on a panel focussing on screen tourism, and how local tourism businesses could benefit, as well as a keynote by screen tourism specialist Seren Welch. There were presentations from Bernard Donaghue OBE, CEO of Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, Stephen Peacock, CEO of West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and representatives discussing Austen 250, Women’s Rugby World Cup, Gromit Unleashed 3, Mendip Activity Centre and Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm.
Visit West representatives also attended the British Tourism and Travel Show at NEC Birmingham last week, with Head of Marketing Jon Chamberlain giving a speech on Austen 250, and the Visit West PR team joined over 70 journalists at a Great West Way Media Discovery Event in Reading, to encourage more press visits and coverage for the region. Visit West ended English Tourism Week with Kathryn Davis featuring on a SXSW panel with creative businesses at BIMM, followed by a roundtable event on Friday 21 March with Weston-super-Mare MP Daniel Aldridge, who is also vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism, and local businesses.
Visit West’s CEO Kathryn Davis said: “It’s been an incredibly busy and successful English Tourism week for us at Visit West and we’ve been delighted to have both Sir Chris Bryant MP and Patricia Yates visit the area. This was our biggest annual conference yet and we’ve had some very positive feedback from local businesses who feel they benefitted from the inspiring and informative presentations, giving them real opportunities to take away – something that is so important given the challenging economic environment for many. Research commissioned by Visit West shows that the local visitor economy is worth more than £2.46 billion to the region and supports some 45,000 jobs, and while we wait for the 2024 results, there is so much to focus on that will benefit the region, whether that be the Starring Great Britain campaign, Gromit Unleashed 3, Women’s Rugby World Cup or Austen 250. We are predicting a strong 2025, and with the support of our local businesses, we look forward to welcoming more visitors to this incredible part of the world.”
