Experience Oxfordshire brings visitor economy operators and the county’s MPs together in a cross-party round table discussion during English Tourism Week 2023

Experience Oxfordshire hosted a cross-party virtual round table discussion as part of English Tourism Week, bringing together three of the county’s MPs with members from across the visitor economy to consider the current issues facing the sector.

CEO, Hayley Beer-Gamage, welcomed Robert Courts MP (Witney & West Oxfordshire), Anneliese Dodds MP (Oxford East) and David Johnston MP (Wantage & Didcot) who gave their insights and advice on questions pertaining to national policies and local interests.

With the county’s tourism related value and employment figures still significantly lower than those of 2019, staff recruitment and retention, market demand and shortages on the supply side were hot topics for debate.

Hayley Beer-Gamage commented: “We’re very grateful for our MPs’ time this morning and the insights they brought to the issues we’re all currently tackling.  The latest economic impact survey results show a significant recovery in volume of trips and related expenditure compared to 2020, but in terms of value our visitor economy is still 36% down on 2019 and 33% down with regards to  employment.

It’s therefore vitally important that, as a sector, operators in the visitor economy work together to raise its profile, and build awareness of its value, to ensure it gets the support it needs for the full recovery of the destination.”

Robert Courts MP commented that the visitor economy was intrinsic to the county and that without it the county would be poorer in every respect.  He called on the sector to come together in a strategic alliance and consider at a granular level what action is required to address the issues raised.

Anneliese Dodds MP stressed the need for good career’s advice early on to make young people aware of the benefits of working in the sector and the breadth of excellent training facilities in Oxfordshire while David Johnston added that there was an additional task in building awareness amongst parents and teachers of the varied career paths offered.

Experience Oxfordshire Board Member, Dominic Hare also of Blenheim Palace, extolled the benefits of the apprenticeship programmes with Blenheim Palace on track to have worked with 200 individuals over ten years.  Fellow Board Member, Miranda Markham, echoed Anneliese’s comment adding that the sector has many career success stories, at Bicester Village over 60% of employees are under 24.

After responding to further questions relating to accommodation stock, the reintroduction of tax free shopping, lowering VAT charged on entrance fees to visitor attractions and a look at what the outcome for 2023 might be, all MPs stressed their support for the sector and for the vital work delivered by Experience Oxfordshire in promoting Oxfordshire as a leading destination for tourism, culture and business.

You can get involved with Experience Oxfordshire’s English Tourism Week activity by following:

Twitter –@ExperienceOxBiz and @ExperienceOx

Facebook – Experience Oxfordshire

Instagram – @experienceoxfordshire

LinkedIn – Experience Oxfordshire

 

**ENDS***

Contact:
Name: Lesley Wright
Email: press@experienceoxfordshire.org
Call: 01865 686433

NOTES TO THE EDITOR:

1. Image available here: http://bitly.ws/BU7r

2. Pre-covid the Visitor Economy in Oxfordshire:

  • Supported 42,000 jobs
  • Accounted for £2.5bn visitor expenditure
  • 28m day visitors, 2.8m overnight stays

3. Oxfordshire’s Visitor Economy, current status:

The 2021 economic impact survey results which show a significant recovery in volume of trips and related expenditure compared to 2020, but still below the levels seen in 2019.

  • Value: £1.6bn = 56% increase in value on 2020 (36% down on 2019)
  • Trips: 23.3m = 56% increase in trips on 2020
  • Day trips expenditure is down 26% on pre-pandemic levels and overnight expenditure down 51%
  • Employment: 28.8 = 13% increase in jobs supported (33% down on 2019)

4. Experience Oxfordshire is the official Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for Oxfordshire. We are the trading arm of the parent charity, Experience Oxfordshire Charitable Trust, and are a not-for-profit partnership organisation that is committed to the promotion, management, and development of Oxfordshire as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business whilst improving growth and productivity across the visitor economy. The DMO provides essential business advice and support to visitor economy businesses across Oxfordshire.

For more information on the value of Oxfordshire’s visitor economy go to https://www.experienceoxfordshire.org/partner/partner-benefits/research-and-insights/

5. Businesses present at the Visitor Economy Virtual Roundtable included:

Bicester Motion, Bicester Village, Blenheim Palace, CBRE, Conference Oxford, Cherwell District Council, Courtyard Oxford City Centre, GLAM, GWR, Hedges Law, JACKfm, Leonardo Royal Oxford, Oxford Brookes, Oxford City Council, Oxford Festival of the Arts, OxLEP, Stephen Spencer & Associates, Wellers

6. English Tourism Week

Coordinated by national tourism body, VisitEngland, and taking place from 17 to 26 March 2023, English Tourism Week highlights the sector’s economic importance and builds awareness of the innovation, quality and range of visitor experiences on offer in England. It also celebrates the skills of the workforce and the diverse range of jobs and careers available in the sector.

7. For more information about VisitEngland and English Tourism Week 2023 see: https://www.visitbritain.org/english-tourism-week or contact Charlotte Sanders at VisitEngland: charlotte.sanders@visitengland.org M: 07500 555 651