The Mayor of London has announced an increase of nearly £750,000 to Visit London campaigns, aimed at stimulating visits to the capital in the build up to Christmas and into 2009.
The additional public/private funding will take the total amount spent on promoting the capital at home and abroad to £3.25m over the next four months – an amount that is expected to deliver £70m in economic benefit to the city.
The Mayor made the announcement to an audience of tourism leaders at the Visit London Awards at the Royal Albert Hall and follows a meeting with industry figures this week.
Mayor Boris Johnson said: 'Tourism is massively important for jobs and growth in London. By continuing to promote the city both nationally and internationally, I want to ensure that London remains one of the world’s most visited destinations. There's never been a better time to come here and I urge Londoners and visitors alike to take advantage of everything our magnificent capital has to offer.'
The £3 million private/public partnership will be led by Visit London and funded by the London Development Agency.
Visit London's Interim CEO, Sally Chatterjee, said: 'Despite undoubtedly tough times ahead, there are still major opportunities to promote the city to our key markets. London offers great experiences at amazing value and I'm delighted that we have a major programme of activity to sell our message throughout the world.'
London Development Agency Chair Harvey McGrath said: 'Tourism plays a big part in London’s economy and its global success. Even in the current economic downturn, we have a great opportunity now to promote London as a world-class destination that offers first-class value for money to overseas visitors. We are supporting this campaign to attract new visitors and business travellers and to market London as the best possible place for people to visit, study and invest.'
The initiative kicks off at the beginning of December, rolling out across London's key visitor markets until the end of March 2009. Further promotional activity in 2009 is also being planned.
The move comes as London is set to sparkle over the festive season with the world famous West End lights, seasonal shows at many of the capital’s top theatres, ice rinks in unique and iconic locations and a host of exciting winter events.
2009 also promises to be one of the most exciting years for a visit to London with an exceptionally large number of reasons to come including:
· Significant anniversary celebrations, from the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's accession to the throne and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin to the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens.
· The opening of many new experiences at existing attractions such as “Discover Greenwich” at the Old Royal Naval College in Maritime Greenwich, a major expansion of the Whitechapel Gallery, the “Centre Court Experience” extension to Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum and new Convention facilities with the “Twickenham Experience” and Marriott hotel.
· Major new openings including the Natural History Museum's new multi-million pound Darwin Centre, ten new galleries of Medieval and Renaissance art and design at the V&A and the re-opening of the world famous Savoy hotel after a £100m renovation.
· Global sporting events taking place in London, including the ATP World Tour Finals tennis and the World Artistic Gymnastic Championships at the 02 Arena and ICC World Twenty20 cricket at Lord’s and the Oval.
