From the 70th anniversary for Queen Elizabeth on the throne to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, there’s plenty to celebrate in Great Britain this year.
On top of all that, they’ve eliminated all travel restrictions, so there’s no form to fill out, no test to take and no quarantine to fret over.
“It’s like the gold old days,” I said in a chat this morning with Dame Judith Macgregor, chair of the British Tourism Authority.
“Yes,” she replied with a laugh. “We just value it more, don’t we?”
Amen to that.
Macgregor, an engaging interview, said travel trends are very encouraging for Great Britain. Bookings are up 30 to 50% over last year, and Britain expects something like 21 million visitors for 2022. That’ s a little less than one-half of 2019’s figures, but she said 2019 was a “bumper year” and that spending this year is expected to reach a solid 60% of 2019 levels, which is good news for tourism businesses.
Macgregor said polling suggests that eight in ten Canadians want to travel, but only about half of us have actually booked a trip.
“So that’s the work we have to do,” she said.
Macgregor spoke with the media during the first day of Explore GB Virtual, an online travel/trade show that’s expected to result in more than 10,000 individual travel meetings.
Air Canada and WestJet are bumping up their spring and summer flights to the UK, as is Transat, and that’s good news for British tourism.
“We’re living prudently but very ambitiously, in the sense that we really do need to kickstart this travel back,” Macgregor said. “Canada grew a lot, and Canadian visitors to the UK grew quite a bit between 2014 and 2019, something like 30%, and we’re really intent on recapturing that.”
It’s always a good year to visit Great Britain. But this year marks a couple of special events; the Queen’s Jubilee and the Commonwealth Games.
“The queen is celebrating her 70th anniversary, and we’re celebrating that big time,” Macgregor said. “There are exhibitions at various royal palaces, there will be lunches, there will be festivities, there will be concerts, there will be parties, there will be community events. You can go and see things and benefit from that sense of nationwide celebration.
“The other big thing is our Commonwealth Games,” which will take place in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8. “We found with the Olympics in 2012 in London that that was a fantastic springboard for tourism.”
Macgregor said a million tickets for the Commonwealth Games had already been sold as of last month, and that major festivities surrounding the Games have begun.
Noting that it’s not far from Birmingham to Stratford on Avon, she noted that visitors to Britain could tackle both in one trip. Call it “Shakespeare and sprinters,” perhaps.
In addition to the Commonwealth Games, the World Gymnastics Championships will be held in Liverpool from October 29 to November 6, and the UEFA Women’s Euro tourney will take place in various cities in July.
Macgregor said British tourism wants visitors to explore London, but also get out and enjoy other cities and destinations, such as Cardiff, Coventry or Manchester. Movie/television show tourism is very popular as travellers trace the filming spots for shows such as Bridgerton or Game of Thrones.
Asked to name a couple of personal favourite spots, Macgregor mentioned Hay-on-Wye, which is famous for its book stores and also has a music festival. It’s on the border of England and Wales and the town issues its own passports. She also said she loves the fabulous country and local food in Northumberland, as well as a walk along Hadrian’s Wall, which was built by the Romans to help keep invaders out of what was then Roman state of Britannia.
