[London, 18 November 2009] VisitBritain, Visit London, the European Tour Operators Association (ETOA) and UKinbound have agreed to set up a joint working party to  develop a strategy that will encourage visits to Britain and London throughout 2012 and beyond as London hosts the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

[London, 19 November 2009] Britain’s tourism industry looks to have reached a turning point during the key summer months according to new provisional figures from the International Passenger Survey.

[London, 10 November 2009] VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, was awarded the accolade of World’s Leading Tourism Authority Website at last night’s World Travel Awards (09 November 2009). The prestigious award was voted for by travel agents worldwide.

[London, 10 November] Celebrating the release of “Sherlock Holmes,” the new action-adventure mystery starring Robert Downey Jr. as the legendary detective, national tourism agency VisitBritain has joined forces with Warner Bros. Pictures to invite tourists to discover Sherlock Holmes’ Britain.

[London, 12 October 2009] VisitBritain continues to develop its successful e-commerce strategy with a key appointment. New head of e-commerce and retail Vickie Birnage.

[London, 14 September 2009] Christopher Rodrigues, chairman of VisitBritain makes the case for tourism’s power to create and sustain employment throughout the UK at the launch of the national tourism agency’s annual review for 2008/09.

[London, 14 September 2009] VisitBritain publishes its annual review for 2008/09 highlighting its achievements in inspiring overseas visitors to explore Britain. Its publication comes as the organisation unveils its strategy to support the continued prosperity of the tourism industry.

[13 August 2009] VisitBritain comments that inbound visits 'have certainly suffered from the effects of the economic climate.  However Britain continued to benefit from a weak pound giving great exchange rates – particularly for Europeans – and boosting spending.'

[London, 13 August 2009] A spring edition of Britain Planner – in market from January 2010 onwards – will target those visitors with an interest in leisure travel to and within the UK. This edition covers the peak spring months of March to May 2010 (including Easter).

[London, 12 August 2009] VisitBritain has appointed etv online to design and build a video eCRM application to showcase the variety of experiences and destinations available within the UK, to international audiences in digital video postcards launching in October.

[London, 6 August 2009] British tourism businesses will benefit this month as Britain is the prize for 1500 employees from Amway, a major manufacturer in Thailand, as three, 500-people strong groups spend a week each in Britain between 7 and 27 August 2009.

[London, 22 July 2009] VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, has announced the appointment of Laurence Bresh as Marketing Director. Laurence has been Regional Director, Europe for the past year and prior to that, General Manager England Marketing.

[London, 20 July 2009] Stonehenge, Millennium Stadium, Angel of the North, Loch Ness, Eden Project, Warwick Castle and 'wildcard' Bamburgh Castle are the attractions voted by Britons to be the first photographed by the Street View Trike.

[London, 17 July 2009] Britain is the prize for 1300 employees from Guangdong province manufacturer, Perfect China. This year they have chosen Britain to host direct sales representatives as a reward for their achievements.

[London, 13 July 2009] VisitBritain is backing an interactive tour that uses multimedia techniques and social media channels to bring to life coastal destinations. South African Scott Ramsay's ‘Edge of Britain’ tour shows there’s more to Britain than just its cities.

[London, 3 July 2009] Britain’s coach tourism businesses are to benefit from new initiatives agreed between VisitBritain, VisitEngland and the Coach Tourism Council which will raise the prominence of domestic coach tourism, worth £2.4bn to the UK’s economy.

[London, 1 July 2009] The Mayor of London has announced that Visitor Oyster will be sold onboard all easyJet flights to London Luton, Gatwick and Stansted. The 3-month trial partnership between Transport for London and easyJet was brokered by VisitBritain.

[London, 19 June 2009] In conjunction with ACP Rail and ATOC, VisitBritain has launched the eventBritain BritRail Pass to allow overseas visitors good value access to the entire UK rail network.

[London, 18 June 2009] New provisional figures from the International Passenger Survey indicate that Britain benefited from additional breaks particularly from the Eurozone during the Easter period, while Britons took -16% fewer trips abroad.

[London, 9 June 2009] Britain’s tourism industry welcomes 70 of the world’s most influential travel writers and broadcasters from 31 countries to Buckingham Palace as part of a Global Media Tour to encourage consumers to continue to travel despite the economic downturn.

[London, 18 May 2009] VisitBritain helps Google take its Street View Trike off the beaten track as it asks the British public to suggest tourist spots - Castles, Coastal Paths, Natural Wonders, Historic Buildings & Monuments, and (Sports) Stadiums - that the trike might visit.

[London, 14 May 2009] VisitBritain plans multi-million pound 'value' campaigns throughout Europe and the USA as new figures show that in the first three months of 2009, overseas residents made 6.3 million visits to the UK - down by 13 per cent despite weak sterling.

[London, 13 May 2009] Sapient Interactive has been appointed to redesign, develop, host and manage its suite of websites - multilingual variants of two core consumer sites www.visitbritain.com and www.enjoyengland.com, the website of national tourism organisation, VisitEngland.

[New York, 13 May 2009] VisitBritain and Virgin Atlantic Airways have a launched a new £660,000 (USD $1 million) campaign to help Americans ‘Get More Britain For Your Buck’ and keep them travelling to Britain throughout 2009.

[London, 11 May 2009] VisitBritain has announced the appointment of Sandie Dawe as Chief Executive with immediate effect.  Awarded the MBE in 2008 for services to tourism, Sandie Dawe is currently Deputy Chief Executive of VisitBritain.

[London, 27 April 2009] CorporatePay and VisitBritain are to deliver a new Prepaid MasterCard® through its online shop, visitbritaindirect.com, extending the range of items that potential visitors to Britain can buy before they fly.

[London, 14 April 2009] VisitBritain has joined forces with the Premier League, the organisers of the world’s most popular football competition, to profile destinations with links to Barclays Premier League players and clubs.

[London, 9 April 2009] VisitBritain and the UK Border Agency have joined forces to bring travellers a range of popular UK travel products, which they can buy before they fly from new UK branded kiosks at visa application centres in India and the Middle East.

[London, 9 Apil 2009] VisitBritain launches the European phase of its multi-million pound ‘Britain for Less’ campaign. Running until the end of June, it is the national tourism agency’s largest campaign in Europe for several years with £1.8 million invested across 18 countries.

[London, 26 March 2009] VisitBritain is on stand 730 to welcome over 3,000 travel trade buyers to the first ever Best of Britain and Ireland event. Its presence focuses on work to market Britain overseas and on promoting Britain for Sport.

[London, 24 March 2009] A new, vibrant online film campaign aims to boost visitor numbers to the UK by focusing on five individuals from a range of professions to present a flavour of Britain to the rest of the world.