Destination Britain North America Is Back
Over 60 travel trade and industry suppliers are set to show buyers from North America why Britain is the must-go-now destination as VisitBritain’s Destination Britain North America event returns, Sept. 8 to 10, 2022.
Taking place in Washington, D.C. this week, the three-day trade fair returns as an in-person event for the first time since 2018 and will feature more than 2,000 one-to-one business appointments during the course of the show.
Tourism product buyers from the US and Canada will have the chance to connect with British tourism suppliers to learn the latest innovations on offer from Britain’s tourism industry.
Suppliers from Britain include hotels, visitor attractions, tour operators and destination management companies spanning the length and breadth of England, Scotland and Wales.
Along with doing business, delegates will hear about the latest international travel market trends and what the UK is doing to attract more international visitors, alongside seminars on Britain’s latest marketing strategy and networking to boost knowledge of Britain as a tourist destination.
VisitBritain’s Executive Vice President for the Americas Gavin Landry said:
“This flagship trade event has been a catalyst for business for a decade and we are delighted to be bringing this event back to North America, giving British tourism suppliers and local destinations the chance to get their tourism products and services in front of top travel buyers and forge valuable business connections.”
Landry continued: “The latest innovations in tourism from across Britain will be also on show with the focus this year on industry recovery and exploring more through regional gateways, ultimately inspiring visitors to book a trip right now, travel farther and stay longer, boosting the economy.”
Destination Britain North America has been running since 2008 and is a leading event in VisitBritain’s international trade show calendar.
North America has been one of the strongest markets to recover with flight arrivals and bookings to Britain nearing pre-pandemic levels, driven in part by VisitBritain’s latest marketing campaign. While VisitBritain research shows that there is still pent up demand in the US and Canada for international travel, more than half of respondents had not yet made up their mind where to travel so VisitBritain will continue to invest in North America to ensure the undecided choose Britain.
North America is an important region to the UK, with the US being the most valuable of all inbound markets. In 2019, there were 4.5 million visits from the US with those visitors spending £4.18 billion. From Canada, there were 874,000 visits to the UK (the second highest on record) with Canadian visitors spending a record £724.36 million.
