The Coalition’s funding cuts continue to reshape London’s devolved government with Mayor of London Boris Johnson announcing the merger of the Think London, Visit London and Study London agencies.
Last month the Mayor declared himself “confident” that ministers would recognise the need to promote London despite scrapping funding for the London Development Agency which provides funding for the bodies.
Today City Hall announced that “a minimum” of £14m per year, scarcely more than the current £12m annual grant for Visit London, had been secured to fund the merged agency over the next four years.
The announcement comes after many travel and tourism operators lobbied ministers to save the Visit London which promotes the capital to visitors.
The new body, provisionally named Promote London, will be headed on an interim basis by Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas, chairman of the New West End Company. Danny Lopez, currently a group director at the London Development Agency, will serve as interim chief executive and will oversee the merger.
In a statement Mayor Johnson said the new agency would “play a vital role in ensuring that we can continue to foster London’s reputation across the globe as a fantastic place to live, work, study and visit.
