Visits to Britain’s museums, castles, parks and historic houses can play a key role in boosting the flagging economy, according to a report out today.
The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) report said investment in the UK’s heritage ‘makes sense now more than ever’.
‘The economic impact of the heritage sector has been underestimated by politicians, economists and business leaders trying to get the British economy moving again,’ it added.
Dame Jenny Abramsky, HLF chair, commented: ‘The size of the heritage tourism sector is in excess of £12.4bn a year and supports an estimated 195,000 full-time jobs – this makes the sector bigger than the advertising, car or film industries.’
Once economic ‘multiplier’ effects are included – nearby shops, hotels and cafes – the numbers increase to a GDP contribution of £20.6bn a year, supporting 466,000 jobs.
Abramsky warned, however, that Regional Development Agencies and local authorities see museums, galleries, tourism and leisure ‘as the areas most ripe for cuts’.
Sandie Dawe MBE, chief executive of VisitBritain, added: ‘Our heritage economy is vibrant, and, as this report fully demonstrates, a crucially important part not just of the £114bn visitor economy – the UK’s fifth-biggest industry – but of our local, regional and national economies as well.’
The report highlights how heritage attractions woo overseas as well as domestic visitors, and notes how 2009 was a good 'staycation' year, with visits to English Heritage properties during the summer up by 17% on 2008.
Since HLF was created in 1994, £4.4bn of lottery money has been invested in the UK’s heritage and every £1m of HLF funding leads to an increase in tourism revenues for regional economies of £4.2m over ten years.
The report predicts the tourism economy will grow by 2.6% a year between 2009 and 2018 – much higher than the 0.8% forecast for manufacturing, and similar to the growth rate of the retailing and construction sectors.
Growth would be higher if the staycation effect can be maintained.
See full report here.
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