Policy

Gateway London

London has a clear 'gateway' role for England - stipulated in the Greater London Act. It also has a 'gateway marketing and packaging' relationship with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

For such key reasons, London needs adequate resourcing through strong investment in the necessary infrastructures as the capital destination.

The capital is overwhelmingly the starting point for many tourism routeways that link London to the UK Regions and Nations. The relationship that London has with the regions must be reciprocal with investment flowing out to the regions as well as back to the capital. This relationship needs to be developed further, and kept under constant review. The overall London economy has been growing faster than the rest of the UK for most of the past 18 years. The result is that London currently makes a net contribution to the Exchequer of at least £20bn per annum.

Particularly where tourism is concerned, London is a national asset and a 'flagship' product of the UK. As such its economy, infrastructure, environment, societal well-being and cultural life are all inter-linked and relevant to the overall tourism experience of its visitors. Increasingly 'traditional' tourism blurs into leisure; both are essential in maintaining the city's vibrancy.

<< Back