• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS

Four years after it was established, London and Partners starts work to develop a comprehensive tourism strategy

June 30, 2015 by Martin Hoscik

traf_squareNews that the capital’s official tourism agency has waited four years to start work on a comprehensive tourism strategy has been described as “baffling” by one London Assembly member.

London and Partners was set up by Mayor Boris Johnson in 2011 to promote the city to tourists who are worth around £36bn to its economy and support thousands of jobs.

Tourist numbers received a boost from the 2012 Olympics and have continued to grow in recent years.

London and Partners’ website says its work is “to maintain and strengthen London’s position as one of the most popular visitor destinations in the world.”

However City Hall documents reveal that work “to develop a London Tourism Strategy” which will develop “a long-term vision” for the capital’s leisure and business tourism sectors is only now getting underway.

Despite London and Partners receiving more than £12m of public money each year, much of which it refuses to reveal how it spends, the organisation has asked the Mayor’s office for an additional £90,000 to develop the strategy.

A spokesperson insisted that the work was “beyond the current remit of London & Partners as the Mayor’s official promotional company” because it includes areas such as “product, skills and infrastructure.”

The spokesperson said the agency was one of a number of partners working together “to maximise the economic benefit that tourism brings to the capital” and defended asking for more public cash on the grounds that the work “will be in addition to London & Partners’ business plan”.

Liberal Democrat London Assembly member Stephen Knight said it was “baffling” that an overarching tourism strategy “has not already been put in place by London and Partners.”

Mr Knight added: “The number of tourists visiting London has soared in the last few years and it looks like this year will be another record year.

“However we can never be complacent in maintaining the role of tourism in London’s economy, especially as the bounce in tourism created by the 2012 Olympics will not last for ever.”

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to print (Opens in new window) Print
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email

Filed Under: News

RECENT UPDATES

Tube and rail users to benefit from Oyster weekly fares cap

Mayor and TfL call on ministers to help plug funding gap

Tube to get full mobile phone coverage from 2024

TfL says Direct Vision Standard is already making HGVs safer for London road users




POPULAR

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

Copyright © 2025 · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy