Next week the annual English Tourism Week celebration (25-31 May), organised by VisitEngland, will be marked virtually, with Experience Oxfordshire launching a campaign to highlight the value of Oxfordshire’s threatened visitor economy in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s English Tourism Week will focus on supporting the recovery of English tourism and raising awareness of the importance and quality of the sector to the UK economy.
Organised by Experience Oxfordshire, local MPs and stakeholders will be sharing their support for the Oxfordshire tourism industry via social media throughout the week. Experience Oxfordshire will be celebrating the county’s exciting and vibrant visitor economy, showcasing the range and value of Oxfordshire tourism via social media. Throughout the week-long celebration, Experience Oxfordshire will be sharing facts and figures about tourism in Oxfordshire and raising awareness of the increasing importance of the visitor economy to the county. The campaign aims to put Oxfordshire’s visitor economy front of mind with key stakeholders and showcase the importance of the visitor economy locally and lobby for support to aid recovery to build a strong and resilient destination in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The value of Oxfordshire’s visitor economy is significant. The county welcomes 32 million visitors every year, with the tourism sector providing nearly 40,000 local jobs and bringing in £2.3billion per year to the county. Promoting the value of Oxfordshire’s visitor economy and showcasing the quality of Oxfordshire’s product offering to stakeholders, including MPs and political leaders, is a key part of Experience Oxfordshire’s work as the Destination Management Organisation for the county.
Speaking about the virtual English Tourism Week campaign, Hayley Beer-Gamage, Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire said:
“In previous years VisitEngland’s English Tourism Week marked the beginning of the main tourism season across the county. This year we are looking at a very different picture due to Covid-19 and might miss the main tourism season altogether. As a result, Oxfordshire’s visitor economy, which has historically thrived and grown, is now at risk – threatening livelihoods and local businesses throughout the county. The visitor economy sector is going to need as much support as possible going forward. Experience Oxfordshire have been working hard on a programme of engagement with local and national government to feedback business concerns and hardship at this time. We are delighted to be receiving public support from MPs across Oxfordshire as part of English Tourism Week to highlight the value of Oxfordshire’s visitor economy, and hope they will continue to support and develop appropriate recovery measures for this sector to ensure it can thrive again in the future.”
Join MPs and local businesses sharing their support for Oxfordshire tourism by posting on social media using the hashtags #EnglishTourismWeek20 and #DreamOxfordshire.
Graphics to accompany Oxfordshire’s English Tourism Week campaign are available here.
Follow updates during English Tourism Week on Twitter at @ExperienceOxBiz.
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For more information contact:
Hayley Spore
Email: press@experienceoxfordshire.org / hayley.spore@experienceoxfordshire.org
NOTES TO THE EDITOR:
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 and improving growth and productivity across the visitor economy.
experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com/partner
Twitter (B2C): @ExperienceOx, Facebook: @experienceoxfordshire, Instagram: @experienceoxfordshire
Twitter (B2B): @ExperienceOxBiz, LinkedIn: @ExperienceOxfordshire
Twitter (Venues): @ExOxVenues
VisitEngland’s English Tourism Week campaigns to raise the profile of the industry and celebrate the value and quality of tourism in England. The annual campaign provides the tourism industry with a vehicle to kick-start the season and promote local tourism products. Everyone can participate in the campaign, from accommodation providers, attractions, tourist information centres and destinations, to related sectors such as hospitality, transport or retail.
www.visitbritain.org/english-tourism-week
#EnglishTourismWeek20