DMC and Inbound Tour Operator Fund Frequently Asked Questions

The fund is a pilot scheme which has been aligned in this instance to the 3 largest markets for Britain, and which are most likely to see recovery. These are also the markets in which VisitBritain’s international marketing campaign will be activated. We will monitor this situation closely, and listen to feedback from the industry when evaluating whether future iterations of this fund could be made available.

The fund is not limited to “new” itineraries, so the promotion of existing itineraries is eligible. However, additional weighting will be given through the scoring process to new itineraries promoted through the fund.

Although travel agents are not mentioned specifically, working with a travel agent partner in the overseas market would be eligible. Please note the requirements to demonstrate commitment outlined in the guidance documents.

Applicants must demonstrate recent experience (namely, in 2017-19) of working in the chosen international markets – i.e. if you wish to apply to the fund to run activity in the USA, you must demonstrate experience of working in that market, but not in the others unless you wish to run activity there too, in which case this will also need to be evidenced.

Examples of previous itineraries to single destinations are applicable, but you must be able to demonstrate that you also offer itineraries to at least one other home nation – for instance, a single itinerary to London and another single itinerary to Edinburgh.

We are interested to understand how this activity may also encourage trips to Britain from October 2022 to December 2022. This is not a mandatory criteria, but additional weighting will be given to applications that support this objective.

Unfortunately, sales promos or incentives are not eligible activities for this fund to support. Please refer to the list of eligible areas of expenditure set out in the accompanying guidance notes.

Third party media buy is not a mandatory, but applicants should keep in mind the assessment criteria as scoring of submissions will be based on this.

This is not a mandatory, but relevant own marketing channel communications may receive additional weighting through the assessment process.

The fund requires commitment from at least one in-market trade partner upon application. Multiple partners are eligible and these can be added later in the process subject to VisitBritain approval.

Products/itineraries do not have to be new, although those that can be demonstrated as such will receive additional weighting through the assessment process.