Britain as a visitor destination will be in the global media spotlight with the upcoming Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla with official celebrations fast approaching and VisitBritain is taking the opportunity to promote ‘destination Britain’ and inspire travel.
VisitBritain’s latest international consumer research shows the draw of Britain’s history and heritage in driving inbound tourism. The chance to explore Britain’s history and heritage was among the top sought after activities for potential visitors, as was visiting its iconic cultural attractions.
VisitBritain is harnessing the valuable opportunity to promote Britain globally as a visitor destination and promote messages of warm British welcome, a top driver globally in destination choice.
Stats and facts:
- Windsor Great Park: most-visited attraction in UK in 2022 - with 5.6 million visits (ALVA annual statistics 2022).
- Tower of London: most visited ‘paid for’ attraction in UK in 2019 (3 million visitors).
- Westminster Abbey: saw 1.5 million visits in 2019.
- Windsor Castle: oldest, largest occupied castle in world received around 1.5 million visitors in 2019-20.
- Windsor town: second most visited day trip destination by inbound visitors (after London) in 2019.
- More than 11 million inbound visits a year to the UK include a visit to castles and historic houses, with these visitors spending £9.2 billion in total on their trips. Visits to religious buildings topped eight million with those visitors spending £6.7 billion during their visits.
- In 2022, English Heritage reported that 10 of its historic attractions enjoyed their best visitor numbers since records began and a further six of English Heritage attractions welcomed their biggest crowds in over a decade.
- In 2019, according to the Royal Collection Trust - the Royal residences saw a record 3.3 million visitors generating £49 million.
How are we promoting Britain in the run-up to the Coronation and beyond:
International campaigns:
As part of our international GREAT Britain campaign 'Spilling the Tea' we have launched ‘His MajesTEA’.
‘His MajesTEA’ is being highlighted internationally alongside destination images of Britain’s history and heritage, its parks and gardens, in the run-up to the Coronation and beyond. The campaign uses a play on Britain’s love of tea, through destination images and short films to tell a fresh and exciting story about the experiences on offer, showing visitors that ‘whatever your cup of tea, we’ve got it.’
VisitBritain wider promotion across its channels:
We're using the reach of our global channels to highlight the Coronation celebrations and associated experiences and destinations throughout 2023.
- Our global media centre hub is also featuring Royal inspired destinations and experiences telling the stories of places and inspiring visitors to discover more, travel further and stay longer, as well as a dedicated Coronation content hub.
- We're also working with the travel trade and media in market to sell Britain with Royal-inspired content packages.
UK trade/industry:
VisitBritain.org - Industry toolkit now available to download with a ‘Coronation emblem’ and GREAT logo that businesses/industry can use to promote Royal related products/experiences across their own marketing including social channels.
VisitEngland.com - new content live on events across Bank Holiday weekend and beyond, from major exhibitions to castle sleepovers and bespoke afternoon teas.
See below for more from our global network:
British Airways and VisitBritain welcomed tens of thousands of visitors to London over the Coronation weekend with a giant celebratory mural on the London Heathrow flight path, designed by local children.
On his recent State visit to Hamburg, HM King Charles was presented with a tin of 
