VisitEngland has announced that its annual English Tourism Week, designed to highlight the economic importance and value of tourism to local economies across the country, is going virtual.
The event is a celebration of the tourism industry, a week dedicated to showcasing the tourism offering of the country.
For the 2020 event, being held from May 25th-31st, VisitEngland and local destinations are asking MPs, local authorities, the UK Government and other stakeholders to shine the spotlight on the importance of tourism to the local, regional and national economy and pledge their support to the sector’s recovery.
Tourism minister, Nigel Huddleston, said: “English Tourism Week recognises the important role the industry plays in our local, regional and national economies, supporting jobs and attracting investment.
“This is a challenging time for the industry and we’re providing support through an unprecedented government package for businesses and workers.
“I hope everyone will use English Tourism Week as an opportunity to celebrate the sector, and we’ll be encouraging people to book a great British holiday as soon as it is safe to do.”
VisitEngland has this year asked MPs to record video messages for use on their social media channels during English Tourism Week, pledging their support for tourism and highlighting the sector’s economic importance to their local economies.
VisitEngland has been working across the industry and with the UK government to ensure that tourism is able to recover as quickly as possible once restrictions are lifted.
In response to calls from across the industry it is working to develop common industry standards that will provide a ‘ring of confidence’ for tourism businesses, attractions and destinations in England as well as reassurance to visitors that businesses have clear processes in place when restrictions are lifted.
VisitEngland director, Andrew Stokes, said: “English Tourism Week is all about highlighting the economic benefits that tourism brings to local economies, celebrating our diverse and exciting sector, and showcasing the quality, range and value of English tourism.
“While we cannot run events as usual this year, the spirit of the week has never been more important.
“Tourism has been one of the first and hardest hit economic sectors due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this year’s virtual week is dedicated to showing support for the industry, the millions of people who work in it and the hundreds of thousands of businesses impacted.”
Tourism is one of England’s largest and most valuable industries, supporting hundreds of thousands of businesses, employing more than 2.6 million people and generating more than £106 billion a year for the English economy.