Visit Britain CEO Optimistic on a Vaccine-Driven Summer Travel Rebound
Photo Credit: There is pent-up demand for Bridgerton tours to filming locations, such as Castle Howard in Yorkshire (pictured). Getty Images / Rob Mcleod/robertharding
Skift Take
If rapid vaccinations stay on track, the head of Britain's tourism arm expects a brighter summer ahead, including pent-up demand for Bridgerton tours. But the recovery for inbound international travel will be slower.
Since the pandemic started a year ago, Europe has been one of the world's hardest-hit regions. Great Britain, in particular, has faced multiple stop-and-start scenarios that have decimated its travel industry.
A fresh round of border restrictions was implemented at the start of this year to prevent further entry of Covid variant strains, along with 10-day quarantine hotel requirements and jail threats for violators. In the meantime, vaccinations have been rapidly advancing — over 18 million Britons have received the first vaccine dose so far or one in three adults, as the UK now ranks third in the world after Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
This week, the UK government shared the first bit of good news for the country in a while by laying out a recovery plan that could see international travel reopening by May 17.
On the heels of this development, Skift spoke to Sally Balcombe, CEO of Visit Britain for nearly seven years, about her vision for tourism in Britain this year, mar
