UK Tourism Intelligence

The promotion and monitoring of Tourism and Leisure in the United Kingdom has been a patchwork of government, semi government and corporate entities that seem to come and go with monotonous regularity. Today we can hope that what we saw in the early 1970's, the importance of tourism income for rural areas, has been realized by the decision makers in government.

Britain has some outstanding areas of natural beauty, places to recharge the soul, and places to feed the mind and curiosity, as they have for over 2000 years or longer. The Castles are real, not fiberglass and the villages are not just a facade built by studio planners.

My own involvement began in the early 1970's in the wilds of the Findhorn and Spey Valley in Scotland, home of some outstanding scenery and equally splendid distilled spirits. From there to the wilds of Yorkshire, and on to the Norfolk Broads. Each move gave a whole different view of leisure and tourism.

The interests of the tourists, and owners of hotels, restaurants amd attractions remained the same, and the message was repeated all over the UK, Europe and around the world. Tourism is a greatly underestimated asset, and should be a major part of any plan to recover from the recession.

UK -v- US Leisure

Leisure and tourism in the United Kingdom are taken seriously by both the workers, and management. Unlike the United States, where the average vacation time is only 2 -3 weeks per year, and many employers expect workers to forgo the majority of this time, for the benefits of corporate profits. Hence the US tourism, and leisure promotion efforts are less than spectacular.

In the UK the leisure time is intended to reinvigorate the public, and act as a wellness vehicle for prevention of everything from Obesity to Heart Disease. There exists a chain of local Leisure Centres where anyone can use the facilities, from Squash Courts to Olympic sized swimming pools. The rest of the 5 - 6 weeks holiday time can be spent visiting locations around the world.

Tourism is a very mature industry, with a large employment base, often seasonal.