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VISIT ENGLAND’S “MIND THE GAP” CONFERENCE

Rita Beckwith OBE

My Lord, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a real pleasure to be here with you this morning

and a particular pleasure to be here as part of the

International Festival of Business.

UKinbound were delighted to hold our Discover event

here last week which was the first event of the IFB

calendar – making an important statement about

tourism’s contribution to the economy of this country.

And I know there are many more exciting weeks ahead

in this vibrant city. The festival, coupled with an

ambitious cultural programme, will provide a huge

boost to the tourism economy, not only of the

Liverpool City region but the wider North West and the

UK.

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I was delighted when I was invited to speak to you. I

have always admired Penny’s tenacity and ambition,

but today I think she has exceeded herself!

To tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our

industry – what to do about that other city – in one of

the flagship tourist destinations outside London, is

brave indeed!

But it’s an issue that needs real debate if we are to

continue to grow and develop as an industry.

I am going to look at this issue from the London

perspective - the case for the Capital, if you will.

But first, a bit about my unique perspective on London

– the view from the river.

Whilst Old Father Thames has dominated London since

the Roman times, the business of tourism on the river

is very much a 20th century phenomenon.

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Pleasure cruising on the river was for many centuries

the preserve of royalty - Tudor and Georgian dynasties

were famous for their spectacular barges – an opulent

tradition which was reprised during the Diamond

Jubilee in 2012 with such success.

Henry the eighth did go so far as to grant a licence to

watermen to carry passengers in 1510, but only as a

means of transport, not for leisure. Pleasure cruising

was not for the peasants – particularly when there

were giant banquets to prepare and heads needing

cutting off.

My own business, City Cruises, started from such

humble beginnings back in 1976 – operating as a

“floating filling station” which supplied pleasure boats

with fuel and provisions. We now take over 3 million

visitors up and down the river on a fleet of modern

craft, with sales continuing to grow. This hasn’t come

easy - even with our location being the life-blood that

runs through the heart of the capital.

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When I started on the Thames more than thirty years

ago, it was a fragmented cottage industry. We worked

for six months of the year on an annual licence, tying

up the boats in winter.

There were many small, open boats, with their

watermen owner-operators each taking a turn to sell

tickets and set sail between Westminster and Tower

piers and upriver to Kew and Hampton Court.

Greenwich was not a destination – in fact, there was

nothing to see but dereliction east of Tower Bridge

after the docks closed.

We were nearly all small companies just trying to make

a living – and the world of marketing, tourists and

international tourism did not register on the radar.

But I came from outside the industry and looked at it

from a business perspective.

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We had only four open boats – so we painted them

red, called them the ‘Official London Sightseeing Boats’

and pictured them coming through Tower Bridge like

the Red Arrows!

A Brand was born. The Red Fleet – synonymous with

London’s great red icons – buses, telephone boxes,

beefeaters and post boxes. It didn’t cost much – but it

set us apart from the rest.

The challenge for us was to earn enough money for

investment in our people, fleet and product.

So we wrote a business plan with money from a

Government scheme and used it to get bank funding to

buy out other operators, consolidating the industry

and enabling us to build the first new sightseeing boat

in London for 25 years. It was, of course, a red boat –

holding 400 passengers with an open top deck and

enclosed lower saloon. She was named by Her Majesty

the Queen on the 18th October 1996.

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Consolidation was key to our early success coupled

with innovation and investment.

The synergies of combining companies gave us the

money for investment, innovation led to development

of product and an enhanced experience – and one

company instead of ten enabled a common vision for

the future – all vitally important to success.

I believe we should look at our tourism framework as a

business and question whether it, too, is fragmented

and in need of consolidation.

With more than 200 Destination Management

Organisations and 39 Local Enterprise Partnerships, can

tourism growth be managed effectively in the regions?

And has it got the flexibility to change quickly to meet

consumer needs?

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We, at City Cruises, have had to diversify to remain

competitive – changing our product to include lunches,

afternoon teas, private hire, events – as well as the

traditional hop-on/hop-off tours.

Our customers’ book has also changed beyond

recognition and we have had to make significant

investment to ensure that we capture our slice of the

lucrative online market.

So for me - although we are blessed with, in my view,

the best view of one of the greatest cities in the world

– we still have to invest in our product to keep the

visitors coming.

You’ll notice I carefully said London was one of the

greatest cities in the world!

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Jewel in the Crown, Cuckoo in the Nest – London is

either viewed as an incredible tourism magnet, or an

unconquerable rival, blocking out the tourism sun for

the rest of the UK. I wonder do our colleagues in the

US of A have a similar conversation about New York?

Or our friends in France about Paris?

Furthermore, would the tourist industries from

countries without such World Class cities have any

sympathy with our grumblings?

London is a universal brand; a renowned world city;

and an inspirational destination for millions around the

world.

We welcomed 31 million visitors to the UK last year – a

record number. Over half of them went to London.

Why wouldn’t they?

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Millions of visitors aspire to visit our unrivalled cultural

heritage. Our iconic landmarks are beamed around

the world in major blockbuster movies and our royal

pageantry makes people believe that fairytales still

exist.

If it’s a testament to a city’s global brand, then think

about the last disaster movie you saw - if anything

major is happening to planet Earth, from the invasion

of aliens to climate change – then you know that Big

Ben is going to be second only to the White House -

being zapped/blown up or otherwise destroyed. You

never see footage of Burning Brussels or a Torpedoed

Toronto....

Last year the number of people on this planet going on

holiday reached 1 billion for the first time ever.

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Many of them want to “fly and flop” , but many more

see holidays as an opportunity to explore a world they

have previously only seen on screen. They often have

a check-list of “must see” sights. London and its

landmarks are always on that list – and that has got to

be good for our industry and the UK economy.

In an increasingly competitive market, having a major

attraction such as London as part of our tourism offer

puts us head and shoulders above our competitors and

we should celebrate that advantage.

It seems to me that our problem – if it is such - is not

that 16 million visitors came to London last year.

Hurrah I say!

The problem is that they didn’t go anywhere else!

If London is the beginning of the tourist’s UK journey, it

should not be the end. We should see it as the

springboard to the rest of the UK and, importantly, a

very different and additional tourism offer.

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You cannot get rolling countryside in the middle of

Trafalgar Square. If you want a coastal walk – a stroll

along the Embankment doesn’t quite cut it. And not

even for the wealthiest Russian visitors can we move

Stonehenge to Kensington.

There are real opportunities to tempt the visitor

outside London, once they’ve had their fill of

Beefeaters and Big Ben.

But here’s our real enemy – not apathy, or even lack of

knowledge (although both are there) – but TIME.

In this busy world, time is our most precious

commodity and tourists are no different.

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Many of our tour operators are being asked to squeeze

more and more into their itineraries to maximise their

customers’ stay. New attractions are springing up all

the time – the View from the Shard and London

Helicopter tours are two are of the newest members to

UKinbound, who are competing for business from

other, traditional attractions.

So if London is a competitive space - and time is

precious – what hope do we have to persuade our

visitors to leave the Big Smoke?

Firstly, Size Matters!

We are a tiny island in global terms and a highly well

connected one at that. If someone has travelled half-

way round the world, what’s another hour on their

journey?

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If they’re prepared to cross the channel to see

beautiful countryside – why not get them to cross the

Pennines, or to the Lakes? If it’s a stunning coast-line

they’re after, why not swap the Costa del Sol for the

Costa del Cornwall?

And if it’s sport they’re after – being less than two

hours from the football Mecca of the Northwest has

got to be a bonus for London! If London is the draw –

why not adopt a Michael 0’Leary approach to

geography? Would London-Aintree be such a bad

thing, if the crowds were right?!

Secondly, Quality Matters!

If the product is enticing enough – the visitor will

travel. The second biggest destination in the UK,

Edinburgh, is hardly a stone’s throw from London – and

visitors will make the effort to get there. Bicester

Village has used the lure of luxury brands without the

Bond Street prices to deliver enormous visitor growth.

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Thirdly, to paraphrase that local boy Mr Paul

McCartney, tell the visitor, and more importantly, the

tour operator that you wanna hold their hand.

Talk them through the logistics of getting to your

destination – accepting the fact that many of them will

go to London first. Ruthlessly analyse their needs and

wants – and showcase the best of your product which

will meet those needs.

We at UKinbound, together with colleagues at Visit

Britain and Visit England, have a wealth of data about

what the international market wants - and can provide

support to destinations across the UK to maximise

growth.

And what the visitor wants is an authentic, quality

experience, with excellent customer service and a

warm welcome.

So let’s not see London as a threat but an unrivalled

asset.

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Our visitors come to see the sights of London - so let’s

give them what they want, but surprise them too with

the additional delights of the rest of this green and

pleasant land.

Giving the customer what he expects, but delighting

and surprising him with more, is surely the secret to

return business, which has got to be good for all of us.

Thank you