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The budget for a UK government tourism campaign has been cut by 41 per cent, putting advertising in the country’s “most valuable” visitor markets at risk, according to the chief executive of Visit Britain.
The Cabinet Office reduced the budget allocation for the “GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland” programme to £10.57mn for 2025-26, from £18.085mn in 2024-25, according to an email sent by Patricia Yates, chief of the national tourism agency.
She said the decision was “disappointing news” in her email, dated April 3.
“We will need to pull campaign activity out of some of our largest and most valuable visitor markets, will have less money to attract commercial sector funding and will need to reduce media spend,” the email said.
The “GREAT” campaign aims to promote the UK as a global visitor destination and its website says it generated £210mn in additional tourism expenditure as a result of its 2023 marketing strategy.
Tourism is the UK’s third-largest service export and directly contributed £58bn to the economy in 2023, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.
While the campaign’s strategy to drive growth of the sector remains unchanged, the cut would have a “significant impact” on the recent campaign called “Starring GREAT Britain”, the email said.
The Starring campaign, launched on January 28, aims to boost inbound UK tourism by showing British destinations seen in well-known films and series, including Harry Potter, Bridgerton and Mission Impossible.
Chris Bryant, the tourism minister, “made the case for tourism and its growth potential” before the decision and acknowledged in parliament on Thursday that: “Finances have been tough.”
“We are looking at precisely what money we may be able to source into that fund for the next years,” Bryant said. “I am very serious about wanting to develop a UK-wide visitor economic strategy,” he added.
The Cabinet Office said: “The UK is one of the most visited countries in the world and international tourism drives billions into our economy.”
“The GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland campaign remains an effective tool in driving economic growth and we will continue to work closely with partners to optimise the campaign’s resources to deliver growth across the UK,” it added.
