Investing in Success

New report shows heritage tourism contributes £20bn to UK economy and has important role to play in recovery 

A new report published today, commissioned by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), reveals for the first time the scale of the heritage tourism industry in the UK, estimating its gross domestic product (GDP) contribution to be £20.6 billion.

 The research establishes that the sector makes a bigger contribution to UK GDP than the advertising, car manufacturing or film industries. These findings highlight the importance of continued investment from leisure, culture and heritage budgets in supporting tourism and its ability to help with post-recession recovery.

Building on work carried out for VisitBritain, the report, Investing in success: Heritage and the UK tourism economy, demonstrates that heritage is a major motivation behind the tourism expenditure of both overseas and domestic visitors. It shows that the heritage tourism sector, including historic buildings, museums, parks and the countryside, directly supports an estimated 195,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs.

Jenny Abramsky, Chair of HLF said:  “We now have the figures to prove that heritage packs a substantial economic punch. Last year, domestic and overseas holiday visitor numbers grew as the wider UK economy was shrinking. Our museums, historic sites and landscapes, are proving to be an immense and essential attraction, bringing in new visitors and boosting local economies.  As we all look to economic recovery, we must keep investing in heritage tourism so that it continues to flourish, bringing with it key economic benefits”.

Key points in the research report

Over 10 million holiday trips are made by oversees visitors to the UK each year with 4 in 10 leisure visitors citing heritage as the primary motivation for their trip to the UK – more than any other single factor. 
Heritage tourism is a £12.4bn a year industry. This is the annual amount spent not just at heritage attractions themselves (e.g. the cost of entrance to a historic site or in a museum shop) but also the broader amount of spending that can be reasonably said is ‘motivated’ by the desire to visit heritage attractions (e.g. visiting a restaurant or staying at accommodation).
Domestic tourism or the ‘staycation’ is the main component of this expenditure; of the annual £12.4billion spent on heritage-based tourism, 60% comes from UK residents on day trips and UK holidays.
£7.3billion of heritage expenditure is based on visits to built heritage attractions and museums, with the bigger £12.4billion including visits to parks and the countryside as well.
The direct GDP contribution of heritage tourism – the wages and profits earned by tourism businesses, such as hotels, restaurants and shops, as well as heritage attractions themselves – is estimated at £7.4bn a year*. Once economic multiplier impacts are added – such as the income earned by suppliers to tourism businesses – the total GDP contribution of heritage tourism is £20.6bn a year**
Tourism has the potential to be one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy over the next decade, and the appeal of heritage will be vital to that growth.
Sandie Dawe MBE, Chief Executive of VisitBritain commented:  “This new HLF report is very welcome. Heritage tourism is the UK’s 5th largest industry. Our heritage economy is vibrant and a crucially important part not just of the £114 billion visitor economy but of our local, regional and national economies as well. VisitBritain’s research in 32 countries around the world reveals that our core strength as a visitor destination is our heritage, history, pageantry and culture.”

Simon Thurley, Chief Executive of English Heritage, added, “HLF’s current report successfully demonstrates the importance of heritage tourism to the UK economy. In times of economic difficulty, heritage tourism has proven its enduring popularity. As we come out of recession, we must continue to build on this positive position.”

The report has been endorsed by other leading heritage organisations including National Trust, Museums Libraries and Archives Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Broads Authority and the Association of Independent Museums.
 
HLF’s Investment
HLF has invested £4.4billion in the UK’s heritage since 1994. Over the past five years, the organisation has carried out extensive research into the impacts of completed projects including a series of visitor surveys and economic-impact case studies. The research has shown that:

visit numbers typically increase by more than 50% following an HLF-funded project
88% of visitors rate the value for money of HLF’s investment as either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
an estimated 32,000 jobs have been sustained in the tourism sector as a direct result of HLF funding
every £1million of HLF funding leads to an increase in tourism revenues for regional economies of £4.2million over 10 years.
Detailed HLF case studies, including Croome Park (Worcestershire), Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum (Glasgow), Bit Pit National Coal Museum (Blaenavon), De La Warr Pavilion (Bexhill-on-Sea) and Locomotion, the National Railway Museum (Shildon), are available within the report.