After three days of networking and business meetings in Bali, the twelfth Destination Britain DBAPMEA 2015 has been hailed a success.
A business busting 5327 one to one appointments took place over the two days at The Grand Hyatt hotel in Bali with British travel suppliers connecting with buyers from all over the APMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa) regions to talk British business, trends and opportunities.
The VisitBritain team looking GREAT!
Where the action happens! By the end of Day 2 5,327 B2B appts will have happened at #DBAPMEA2015 pic.twitter.com/hdnVu13w3V
— VisitBritain Biz (@VisitBritainBiz) May 13, 2015
Off the back of the best year ever for visitors and overall spend for VisitBritain, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland are all looking to build on the record breaking numbers and draw in yet more visitors to experience their wide array of new products on offer.
And with major events such as The Rugby World Cup starting in September, Britain is looking to capitalize on enhanced global exposure for all of Britain across its three major focuses of countryside, culture and luxury.
“It’s little more than 100 days to go until one of the world’s greatest sporting events commences – the Rugby World Cup – which will be played in 11 host cities throughout England and Wales. Major events like RWC showcase what the regions have to offer and coupled with flexible, direct flight connections from regional Australia into regional Britain, it’s not surprising we are seeing growth in travel beyond London. Trade events like Destination Britain APMEA provide the Australian wholesalers an opportunity capitalise on the interest in British holidays experiences and expand their regional Britain products offerings.”
Mark Haynes Marketing Manager Australia, VisitBritain
Get some inspiration for your next trip to Britain on our YouTube channel http://t.co/8S8476ipFi #LoveGreatBritain pic.twitter.com/BDcN5pfIIw
— VisitBritain (@VisitBritain) May 21, 2015
With us Aussies sitting at no.4 in international arrivals to Britain, it seems our desire to explore more of the homeland isn’t abating, but only growing in interest.
According to the latest International Passenger Survey, figures show Australian visitors spent £1.224 billion (A$2.32bn) in Britain last year, up 3 percent on 2013 and a new record.
In total, Australian visitors spent 15 million nights in Britain, a growth of 1 percent on the prior year and also a new record.
There were 1.057 million inbound visits from Australia to Britain.
“Australians are true regional explorers experiencing all parts of the UK during their holidays and have really embraced the ‘Countryside is GREAT’ style of holiday with Scotland experiencing a growth of 14.5% and Wales growth of 9% from Jan -Sept 2014.
We’re looking forward to working with all the wholesalers on leveraging this interest and bringing more Australians to experience regional Britain in 2016″. Haynes said.
Next years 2016 event destination is still to be revealed, but shhh… KarryOn understands that Muscat – Oman, Istanbul – Turkey and Singapore are all in the mix. Watch this space!