Tourism Sector Deal

The Tourism Sector Deal established a framework for how the UK Government and tourism industry can work in partnership. This partnership works to boost productivity, develop the skills of the workforce and support destinations to enhance their visitor offering.

Announced in June 2019, the plan was heralded a ‘game changer’ for tourism, moving the sector to the top table as a leading concern for the UK Government’s future economic planning.

The deal took more than two years of hard work, commitment and determination from the tourism industry. Stakeholders from across the sector joined forces to develop ideas in line with the five key pillars of the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy: People, Ideas, Infrastructure, Places and Business Environment.

The Tourism Sector Deal was replaced by the Tourism Recovery Plan published in 2021, which set out the Government’s framework for post-pandemic tourism industry recovery. Read more on the Recovery Plan.

The Tourism Sector Deal represents more than two years of hard work and commitment from the tourism industry. This is the journey we took to reach the deal:

In January 2017, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy published an Industrial Strategy green paper. At the Tourism Industry Council in February 2017, a group was set up to collaborate between the government and the tourism industry, and an agreement was reached that the tourism sector would push for a Tourism Sector Deal. The bid was led by Steve Ridgway CBE, former CEO of Virgin Atlantic, BTA Chair at the time and current hotel owner, an industry leader and expert – and facilitated by VisitBritain and VisitEngland, who helped the industry to pull together its proposals.

The government stipulated that those sectors with the broadest reach, and ability to speak with ‘one voice’ were the likeliest to achieve a sector deal. We reached out to the 200,000+ small businesses in all the sectors that make up our tourism industry, and more than 450 businesses and organisations fed into the consultation process.

In September 2017, the Tourism Industry Council signed off the following priorities:

• A 10-year tourism and hospitality skills campaign to boost recruitment, skills and long-term careers providing the industry with the workforce it needs.
• Boosting productivity by extending the tourism season year-round and increasing global market share in the business visits and events sector.
• Improve connections to increase inbound visits from more markets by 2030, by making it easier for overseas and domestic visitors to not only travel to the UK but to explore more of it.
• Creating ‘tourism zones’ to build quality tourism products that meet visitors’ needs and expectations, extending the tourism season and fixing localised transport issues to improve the visitor experience.

In October 2017, VisitBritain/VisitEngland put forward the formalised submission document (PDF, 14.5 KB).

In November 2018, the government announced it would be entering into an official negotiation with the tourism industry for a Tourism Sector Deal, to attract more domestic and overseas visitors and help drive major economic growth.

Recognising the tourism industry as one of the UK’s most successful exports, the then Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (formerly the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport), Jeremy Wright, called on the industry to respond with a renewed commitment to promote its offering throughout the year, and increase clear career paths.

The sector was asked to look at the key themes of:

• Making tourism and hospitality a career for life
• Making the UK the most accessible tourism industry in the world
• Sharing data to identify growth opportunities in new and emerging markets
• Increasing accommodation capacity

The Tourism Sector Deal was announced by then Prime Minister Theresa May on 27 June 2019. Read the full announcement here.