India a key growth market for VisitBritain

As British pop culture icons, screen locations and regional gems take centre stage, the United Kingdom (UK) is sharpening its strategy to attract more Indian travellers. Patricia Yates, CEO, VisitBritain, tells India Outbound that the country is banking on cinematic nostalgia, new direct flights and deeper engagement beyond metros to drive a 12 pc rise in visitor spending this year.

- » VARSHA SINGH

Q What are your expectations from 'Starring Great Britain' campaign in India?

We know that Indian travellers are passionate about seeing places that they have seen on screen.

As per our research, 94 pc of Indian visitors want to see places in Britain that they have seen on screen, which is against the global average of 90, so, stunningly high and India even more so. Thus, we know it is a really powerful driver.

You can see that the global platforms that we have now mean that programmes that perhaps once would have only been seen at the BBC have now got viewerships of millions all around the world, and fans all around the world. When I talk to people here, Peaky Blinders seems to have been seen everywhere and goodness knows how many people have seen Harry Potter. Hence, British storytelling is known and loved globally. What that allows us to do is to encourage people to go to areas that they have not necessarily seen before. We know for Indian visitors, they love London and Scotland, but there is a lot of country in between that we can encourage Indian visitors to go.

Which are the other regions in the UK that you would like to promote in India?

We are supportive of IndiGo, which has announced the launch of a direct flight to Manchester, which is a vibrant cultural city and half an hour away is Liverpool, home of the Beatles and other music too and a beautiful waterfront that is historic. But if you go within an hour, you are in the Lake District or the Peak District. It is really a stunning open countryside and on the other side of the country, I would talk about the North East, which is anchored around Newcastle as well as the vibrant, lively town of Durham, a World Heritage site and then you have got things like Annick Castle, where if you walk through it, you can see that that is where the Quidditch pitch was filmed for