The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is the lead department responsible for tourism policy in the United Kingdom. It co‑ordinates tourism policy across the United Kingdom, leads the relationship with the British Tourist Authority (the national tourist board) and has control over a number of distinct policy areas such as tourism marketing, heritage, arts, culture, and business events.
Engagement with other departments is overseen on an ad-hoc basis by the Tourism Minister responsible for policy which affects the overall tourism sector, including the departments for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Transport, and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Her Majesty’s Treasury, and the Home Office. This was formalised in 2021 with the creation of an inter-Ministerial Group for the Visitor Economy.
The British Tourist Authority has a statutory duty to encourage visits to Britain and improve tourist amenities. VisitBritain markets and promotes Britain abroad through a global office network. VisitEngland undertakes domestic marketing and business support and development activities. The British Tourist Authority also undertakes tourism research, administers bespoke grant schemes and has a number of commercial revenue streams. In 2021/22, the BTA received GBP 34.2 million of funding from DCMS and GBP 18.9 million from GREAT, an international marketing campaign encouraging people to visit, do business, invest and study in the United Kingdom.
Tourism is largely a devolved competence; thus, the Scottish and Welsh Governments, and the Northern Ireland Executive, formulate their own tourism policy and have their own tourist boards. Tourism Ministers from the four nations meet once a quarter.
The Tourism Industry Council, co-chaired by the Minister for Sport and Tourism and a senior representative of Hilton Worldwide, drives engagement with the tourism sector, facilitating a two-way dialogue. Other forums include the ‘Tourism Industry Emergency Response’ group run by VisitBritain, which has met regularly during COVID‑19, and the Events Industry Board, which supports the government in developing its business tourism policy.
Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) are an important part of the United Kingdom tourism landscape. However, they have no formal relationship with the national government outside of ad-hoc relationships on bespoke grant funding programmes. There is no consistent funding model for DMOs, but some are funded by Local Authorities. In 2021, the United Kingdom commissioned a review of the DMO model (see Box 2.10).
