London First

Tourism is a vital and growing sector of the London economy. The Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012, along with the continuing ‘competitive pound’, give us a tremendous opportunity to promote London as a destination to the rest of the world.

London needs to improve the clarity and delivery of its promotion and messaging, emphasising its strengths to those who may visit, work, study or invest in London.

London First is working with the Mayor and the various agencies to help improve coordination of the city’s promotional activities – from messaging through to delivery. We seek to ensure that the voice of London business is heard clearly in this process.

Business tourism

London First is working to ensure that business tourism, in particular, is more effectively promoted and supported. London is consistently ranked as a leading world city in various indices yet is ranked a mere 16th in the world ICCA rankings of business tourism destinations. This is an important opportunity lost.

Conferences and meetings, exhibitions and trade shows, corporate events, incentive travel and major congresses support London’s economy and jobs in a number of ways, including: higher average visitor spend per head, compared to a leisure tourist; business transacted at events; potential spin-off investment opportunities; and, the likelihood of return visits as a leisure tourist.
 
Improved promotion and city-wide strategic planning, bidding and delivery of major events, is vital in order to maximise the economic contribution of this sector to London’s economy.

Please contact Catherine Shrimpton for further information.

Related activity:

Our West End Streets initiative drives improvements to public realm and transport ahead of the London 2012 Games, to help cement the tourism legacy for London. Read more