Experience Oxfordshire celebrates the county’s visitor economy during English Tourism Week 2023 with extensive promotional programme

Experience Oxfordshire will be promoting the county’s visitor economy extensively during English Tourism Week 2023 (ETW), the annual national celebration of the tourism industry.

Coordinated by national tourism body, VisitEngland, and taking place from 17 to 26 March 2023, ETW 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.

In advance of ETW, the Experience Oxfordshire team have been flying the flag for the county at a range of travel trade events organised by VisitBritain. CEO Hayley Beer-Gamage met with travel operators in Berlin and Copenhagen and meanwhile the team at home engaged online with international travel buyers keen to hear the latest from Oxfordshire as part of ExploreGB, VisitBritain’s largest travel trade event, as well as “speed dating” online with international media contacts.

The team were delighted to introduce buyers to the 2023 online edition of the Experience Oxfordshire Visitor Guide. Packed with information, ideas and itineraries, the guide has an extensive listings section and is the go-to guide for trip planning.

Each year Experience Oxfordshire facilitates meetings between Oxfordshire businesses and their members of Parliament and on Friday 17 and 24 March Oxfordshire’s MPs will be out and about at venues across the county to hear the latest news from owners and operators on how they are building back their business in 2023.

Oxfordshire’s MPs will be welcomed by the Interim Chair of VisitEngland, Fiona Pollard, on Tuesday 21 March at a Visitor Economy Cross-Party Roundtable Discussion where Experience Oxfordshire Partners will have the opportunity to engage in what promises to be a lively debate.

Throughout the week Experience Oxfordshire’s social media team will be shining a light on the fantastic range of tourism experiences offered across the county and promoting venues across the county and for all new bookings made and taken during ETW, award-winning Oxford Official Walking Tours will be offering a 15% discount. A great way to explore the city of Oxford!

Hayley Beer-Gamage, Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire said:

“In 2019, 31 million trips were made to Oxfordshire and the visitor economy was supporting over 42,000 jobs, contributing over £2.5 billion a year to the local economy. The impact of the pandemic had a devastating effect on local businesses. Over the last 18 months we have seen significant recovery – but there is still a long way to go. We are 36% down on value and 33% down on levels of employment compared to 2019.

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

Experience Oxfordshire takes every opportunity to communicate the wealth of fantastic visitor experiences available in our county, to ensure that the destination remains top of mind amongst tourism buyers, bookers and holiday makers. We look forward to continuing our work with and on behalf of businesses and welcome the opportunity to showcase our sector to our MPs during English Tourism Week.”

VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said:

“With spring upon us and the Easter break just ahead it is timely to shine the spotlight on the outstanding tourism offer here on our doorstep, and on an industry which supports millions of jobs and local economies right across England.

“England’s tourism industry caters for every taste, budget and wish-list. From enjoying contemporary culture in our vibrant cities to our stunning coastal and seaside destinations, from our heritage, countryside and adventure tourism to our outstanding B&Bs and self-catering accommodation, consistently rated as some of the best in the world, there really is something for everyone.”

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

To claim 15% off an award-winning Oxford Official Walking Tour, go to www.oxfordofficialwalkingtours.org and insert code ETW2023 at checkout.

Check out the Oxfordshire Visitor Guide 2023:

https://www.experienceoxfordshire.org/oxfordshire-visitor-guide/

 

**ENDS***

NOTES TO THE EDITOR:

Contact:

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

Image credit: Will Pryce, Bodleian Libraries

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/

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