Spreading tourism benefits

 Spreading the benefits of tourism throughout the capital

The London Development Agency set up the sub-regional programme in 2004 to encourage the spread of visitors throughout London, increasing the economic benefit of tourism to the whole of the capital.

Each sub-region (north, south, east and west) was assigned a Tourism Development Manager and a dedicated strategy, aligned with the overall London Tourism Vision and overseen by a sub-regional tourism steering group.

New sub-regional Visitor Economy Development Plans (2008-2011)

These are currently being drafted following extensive consultation with stakeholders from the public and private sectors. Based on the priorities identified in the London-wide Tourism Vision (2006-2016) these plans set out the strategic objectives for the regions and detail individual projects required to deliver these objectives.

Raising the profile of the sub-regions

All the sub-regions have similar challenges of raising their profile among potential visitors, tackling the misconceptions that there is ‘nothing to do’ outside central London, as well as encouraging local residents to explore and discover the attractions of their own locality.

The Tourism Development Managers work closely with Visit London to raise the profile of their areas in London’s leisure and business marketing. The sub-regional Positioning Guides, which provide key selling points as well as suggest key market segments and themes for local businesses, destinations and boroughs, have proved useful in achieving more focused marketing. All the regions have produced images, which they have made available (free of charge) to local businesses, local authorities, Visit London and VisitBritain.

For contact details of LDA's Tourism Development Managers or to find out how you can get involved in and benefit from the LDA's sub-regional programme, please email tourism@lda.gov.uk.