In August 2010, David Cameron gave a speech about tourism at the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park. It was, he said, a speech he wanted to give rather than one he had to, because the industry is an often overlooked giant within the UK economy. Devoting an entire speech to Tourism within the first 100 days of a new Government’s time in office is unprecedented – DCMS officials have been unable to find any examples of previous Prime Ministers giving the industry this level of priority, ever – and underlines the industry’s enormous potential for the UK’s economic and cultural future.

At the end of his speech, David Cameron asked for a new Tourism Policy for the UK, to be presented to him. Earlier this year, partially to leverage the 2012 London Olympics, the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport presented a new UK Government Tourism Policy 2011.