THE number of business travellers heading to the UK from around the world has risen by three per cent in 2010 so far compared to 2009, according to figures released by VisitBritain. Data shows that 4.3 million business executives arrived in Britain between January and end-August 2010, up from around 4.175 million for the same period in 2009 – a year which saw a steady decline in global business travel to the UK as a result of the economic downturn. The figures indicate that visitor numbers have still to return to their pre-recession levels.
A country-specific breakdown of figures for Q1 shows that business travel between the UAE and the UK rose by 16 per cent in the first three months of the year, with 11,639 individuals arriving in Britain from the emirates in Q1 2010 compared with 10,070 in Q1 2009. Indicators for Q2 show this rise has stabilised.
“It is great to see that globally business travel to the UK has picked up after last year’s slowdown which was a direct result of the global economic crisis. We are predicting that this trend will continue to the end of the year and into 2011.The high numbers of people continuing to visit Britain from the UAE for business purposes proves that commerce between the two countries is a strong as ever,” said Carol Maddison, UAE manager for VisitBritain.
Exhibiting at the Business Travel Show 2010, VisitBritain and its partners gave delegates the opportunity to access a comprehensive range of information of what’s on offer for business people heading to the UK, as well as being able to talk to representatives from four organisations for a more detailed account of the accommodation, events, attractions and travel designed for international executives. VisitBritain has also launched its promotion of the 2012 Olympics at the show. “As part of our promotional strategy for the travel trade sector VisitBritain has developed a key document: ‘2012 - Great Reasons to Sell London and Britain’, which contains 10 key points on why the UK will be a fantastic place to visit in that year,” added Maddison.
Alongside VisitBritain were partners Virgin Atlantic, which flies daily from Dubai to London, and Morgans Hotel Group. Also present were representatives from the luxury Radisson Edwardian hotel and its Middle East partner London’s famous May Fair Hotel (pictured).
Morgans Hotel Group aims to highlight to regional business executives its unique lifestyle, boutique-style properties. The group currently owns and operates two of Britain’s most original and stylish urban hotels – London’s St Martins Lane hotel and the Sanderson.
“Over the last two years, we have started to tap the market and are putting a lot of emphasis on the GCC travel market now. The UAE falls into our top 12 geo-stats, depending on the time of the year. The hotels are popular with young business travellers,” said Oscar Fricke, director of sales, Morgans Hotel Group.
After a successful summer period, Virgin Atlantic’s regional manager Andrew Fyfe participated to showcase the airline’s new corporate logo and look as well as to discuss opportunities whereby Virgin Atlantic can play a significant role in boosting corporate travel from the UAE to the UK. “While the upper class suite has always been popular, the premium economy seats have gained popularity with a lot of our business travellers too” he said. “We want to increase our visibility among the emirate community because we have seen more and more emirate passengers.”
“Radisson Edwardian’s 11 properties represent a selection of London’s most exceptional hotels and locations both for business and leisure travellers, while the May Fair, one of the city’s landmark properties provides the type of luxury and suite accommodation that many business clients seek in London,” said Mona Faraj, managing partner of Insights, an Abu Dhabi based.