Tourist board tries new approach to lure visitors

The British Tourist Authority is preparing a multimillion- pound rebranding exercise to attract overseas visitors.

Iconic images of Britain will be adopted in a strategy designed to appeal to tourists deterred by the foot-and-mouth crisis and the 11 September attacks. The authority was criticised for a perceived lack of direction after abandoning its "UK:OK" campaign earlier this year and replacing it with a new initiative, "Only in Britain. Only in 2002".

The tourist authority insisted the latest exercise was a continuing evaluation of Britain's attractions rather than a third campaign.

The BTA, which receives an annual £35m grant from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, is responsible for luring visitors to Britain.

A marketing blueprint will be drawn up next month once it has been agreed among the heads of the regional tourist boards of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Visitor numbers fell by 7 per cent last year to 22.9 million people, reflected in a 14 per cent fall in spending in the tourism sector to £10.7bn.

In 2001, London attracted half of all overseas visitors, and they spent £5.7bn, according to the BTA. Of the remainder, 42 per cent of tourists visited the rest of England; Scotland attracted 7 per cent and Wales and Northern Ireland 4 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. BTA strategists have set a priority to attract tourists to areas other than London and want to encourage visits outside the traditionally busy summer months.

They are also focusing on the boom area of business tourism, including conferences and seminars, which now accounts for almost a third of tourism expenditure in Britain and has increased by 50 per cent in the past seven years.

In its current campaign series, the BTA is promoting the "Four Pillars" of Britain: heritage, countryside, cities and sport, which has received a boost this year after the Commonwealth Games.

The authority's business plan for 2002-03 says a campaign is needed that would present a "generic" and "relevant" picture of Britain, while at the same time stressing the unique nature of the different "national component brands" and regions.

In January the BTA launched the promotional campaign carrying the slogan "UK:OK", but critics said it was too vague and carried connotations of mediocrity. It was quietly dropped and replaced with a £40m global campaign with the new slogan "Only in Britain. Only in 2002", intended to attract an extra £500m of revenue from tourism and an extra million visitors. It was the largest private-public sector partnership involving the tourism industry and runs to the end of the year.

The cost of the campaign was split between an emergency fund of £20m from the Government and the remainder from the tourist industry. Part of the government grant was spent on advertising the "Only in Britain" logo at FA Premier League grounds for football matches broadcast overseas.

A BTA spokeswoman said: "We have five to 10 campaigns running around the world at any time. What we have to consult on is what is marketable about Britain in a way that all four national areas will be able to use with confidence."

Campaigns: Tourism boom and bust

UK:OK

Launched in January to counter the effects of the 11 September attacks and the foot-and-mouth crisis. The slogan was chosen by the BTA for its "simplicity and emotional impact", but was later criticised for carrying connotations of mediocrity. The campaign was quietly dropped.

Only in Britain. Only in 2002

"Ordinary" Britons appeared in a series of advertisements to promote what the BTA considers to be Britain's "unique" selling points ­ diversity, heritage and humour. The £40m campaign aims to attract one million extra visitors to Britain this year.