Toronto, ON (June 1, 2022) - Britain as a visitor destination is in the global media spotlight with Her Majesty The Queen’s historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations kicking off tomorrow
and VisitBritain is taking the opportunity to promote ‘destination Britain’
and inspire travel from Canada.
With all international travel restrictions lifted for all passengers arriving in to the UK since 18 March, boosting consumer confidence in visiting Britain, tourism businesses across the country are ready to welcome back Canadians and provide a stand-out experience.
VisitBritain’s latest research[1] shows pent-up demand for international travel from Canada. Seventy-seven per-cent of those it surveyed from Canada were keen to take an international leisure trip in the next 12 months, 51% definitely would and, of those, 56% had not yet booked or decided where to go, valuable opportunities for VisitBritain to influence decision-making, destination-choice and bookings.
Flight bookings and arrivals to the UK from North America are also continuing to show strong recovery. Arrivals from North America to the UK in the week to 15th May 2022 were at 78% of 2019 levels with latest available data showing that this is set to increase to 86% for the week of the Jubilee.[2]
VisitBritain SVP Americas Paul Gauger said:
“As the world’s media turns its attention to the historic Platinum Jubilee celebrations and to some of our most iconic destinations including Buckingham Palace, where landmark events are taking place, we’ve got a fantastic opportunity to highlight our outstanding tourism offer and the amazing experiences that Canadians can only have in Britain.
“Canada is a very important inbound tourism market for the UK, we know there is pent-up demand for travel and our royal legacy and pomp and pageantry are proven tourism draws. The Jubilee celebrations, set to be watched by a global audience of hundreds of millions, will also show our hospitality, creativity and warm welcome to the world, boosting tourism to Britain.”
The official Jubilee celebrations, taking place during an extended Bank Holiday weekend from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5, include Trooping the Colour, the Platinum Party at the Palace and The Platinum Jubilee Pageant. It is estimated[3] that about one billion people globally will watch the show-stopping Jubilee pageant.
There is also a host of Jubilee inspired events, exhibitions and experiences happening across Britain in 2022. From ‘Superbloom at the Tower of London,’ with the Tower’s moat transformed into a spectacular field of millions of flowers, to The Royal Mews in London where visitors can see the Queen's carriages, cars and horses. There are also dedicated Jubilee exhibitions throughout the summer and into autumn including special displays at the official Royal residences.
VisitBritain’s latest international consumer research, published in March, shows the draw of Britain’s history and heritage in driving inbound tourism. The chance to explore Britain’s history and heritage was the top motivator for Canadian international travellers keen to visit Britain this year, closely followed by dining out and visiting Britain’s iconic attractions.
VisitBritain is using the reach of its global channels to highlight the Jubilee celebrations and associated experiences and destinations throughout 2022. It has a dedicated Jubilee content ‘hub’ on its global website, promoting Britain’s royal heritage, destinations and experiences with a contemporary twist, telling the stories of places and inspiring visitors to discover more, travel further and stay longer.
VisitBritain's international GREAT Welcome to Another Side of Britain’ campaign has been rolling out in Canada since February, highlighting messages of welcome and showing that Britain is full of exciting experiences to come and enjoy right now.
In 2019 there were 874,000 visits from Canada to the UK with those visitors spending a record £734 million.
VisitBritain is forecasting a gradual pickup in tourism to the UK throughout 2022. Its latest inbound tourism forecast estimates 21.1 million visits overall to the UK this year, (52% of the 2019 level – when there were 40.1 million visits) and overseas visitor spending of £16.9 billion (59% of 2019 – when spending was £28.4 billion). The full forecast is available here.
Britain has a landmark year of events in 2022 - set to be global tourism draws. As well as the historic HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (with year round celebrations) there is also Unboxed,’ the UK-wide celebration of creativity - promoting the UK's creativity and innovation with 10 freespectacular projects, running from March to October offering new, immersive experiences for visitors; and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (28 July-8 August).
More information about the specific Jubilee exhibitions including at the Royal residences is available at the specific links below:
Buckingham Palace: The Queen’s Accession exhibition (July 22 - Oct 2). Details The Queen's Accession in February 1952.
Kensington Palace: Life Through a Royal Lens – exhibition (Mar 4 - Oct 30) explores the Royal Family through photography.
Windsor Castle: The Queen’s Coronation will display the Coronation Dress and Robe of Estate worn at the Coronation at Westminster Abbey in 1953 (July 7-Sept 26).
Sandringham House– Her Majesty The Queen: An Exemplary Reign and a Unique Country House - includes objects and photographs depicting The Queen’s love of animals, the great outdoors and a special audio-visual display of the very first Christmas Day speech recorded at Sandringham in 1957 (April 9 - Oct 13).
Palace of Holyroodhouse: Platinum Jubilee Display exhibition – outfits The Queen wore to celebrate her Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees (3 July - Sept 25).
St Paul’s Cathedral – Jubilee: St Paul’s, the Monarch and the Changing World - exploring the history of Jubilee celebrations across 300 years (25 May-1 Dec 2022).
A VisitBritain survey published on 26 May 2022 has shown that 5.3 million Brits are definitely planning a domestic break in the UK during the extended Bank Holiday weekend for the Platinum Jubilee, bringing an estimated £1.2 billion boost to the economy. Full survey and press release here: https://www.visitbritain.org/53-million-brits-plan-domestic-break-platinum-jubilee-weekend-bringing-ps12-billion-economic-boost
VisitBritain’s research shows that about 10 million inbound visits to the UK annually include a visit to a castle or historic house with those visitors spending £9 billion in total on their trips (source: International Passenger Survey). In 2019, the Tower of London was the most visited ‘paid for’ attraction in the UK with almost three million visitors. Source: VisitEngland’s Annual Survey of Visits to Visitor Attractions (2019).
The British Beer and Pub Association has stated, in its press release on 19 May, that it estimates that the long Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday weekend will result in an additional £105 million for the sector with an estimated 90 million pints expected to be sold.
More information about watching the ofifical events as well as the Big Jubilee Lunch parties is available from the UK Government’s press release here: There is also a hub with all related news here on gov.uk
Further information on Jubilee related events in England is available here; For Wales please see: www.visitwales.com and Scotland please see: www.visitscotland.com
VisitBritain promotes the UK internationally as a visitor destination as part of the UK Government’s global GREAT campaign.