Visit Greenwich has announced its plans to grow the Greenwich visitor economy by 14% over the next four years. Its ambition is for the Royal Borough of Greenwich to be recognised as the UK’s best destination for heritage, culture and entertainment by 2023.
Tourism now generates £1.44bn of visitor spend into the Royal Borough of Greenwich and supports 16,000 jobs; a significant growth of 31% since 2014.
Visit Greenwich launched its new tourism plan at the impressive new Dreadnought building at the University of Greenwich, which now has 23,000 students.
Keynote speaker at the event, VisitBritain/VisitEngland CEO Sally Balcombe, said, “Greenwich has so much to offer inbound and domestic visitors from its globally renowned heritage to its world-class venues and growing reputation as a cultural hot spot. It is great to see the wide-ranging industry support across the borough, and the sector coming together to drive growth from tourism and ensure its economic benefits are felt far and wide.
The Greenwich Destination Management Plan 2019-2023 has the backing of the local authority, the Royal Borough of Greenwich, and Visit Greenwich’s 140-strong commercial partnership. The Royal Borough of Greenwich was also in attendance and has recently announced ambitious plans to develop a new Creative District at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich.
Councillor Miranda Williams, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and the Third Sector, said, “The new investment in Woolwich will provide a huge boost to our tourism offer and in particular to our night-time economy. Connecting this new offer to the already successful destination of Greenwich will help to boost the profile of the new venue. I’m thrilled that so many internationally renowned artists and companies are making Woolwich their home; cementing its position as a new cultural hub, which will benefit communities across the wider borough too. We are anticipating a further 250,000 visitors to Woolwich in 2021.”
The plan highlights the ambition to join up Greenwich’s riverside assets stretching eight miles from Maritime Greenwich to Greenwich Peninsula and Woolwich. Barrie Kelly, CEO of Visit Greenwich explained, “The Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site is the global image of Greenwich and is therefore our attack brand. But on Greenwich Peninsula there is much more room for development. Knight Dragon is creating a new city there. Hotels, attractions, conference facilities and housing are now being built and this supports The O2, the world’s most popular entertainment venue. The more we can integrate and join up our offer, the longer visitors will stay and the more they will spend.”
The Destination Management Plan shows a clear roadmap to achieve the 14% growth, identifying key themes that will drive the plan, including enhancing the welcome at key travel gateways, creating a new “Greenwich Means _ Time” digital marketing campaign and introducing new “Smart Destination” trials across the Borough.