London: With the ongoing riots inviting
adverse publicity, Britain's tourism authority has dropped its
slick 60-second marketing 'You're invited' video that was put
up on BBC and other websites to attract potential tourists
from abroad.
A spokesman for VisitBritain said: "We have taken the
videos down, they are not appropriate at this time. We have
not changed our advertising and marketing strategy, but we
have removed those videos for the time being".
The spokesman told The Guardian that the tourism authority
was not aware of reports of tourists leaving Britain early or
cancelling trips to visit the country due to the riots in
London and other parts of Britain.
"At the moment these are isolated incidents occurring away
from tourist attractions. Tourists have not been affected," he
said.
Mary Rance, head of trade body UKInbound, which represents
businesses in the tourism industry, said: "The riots of the
past few days, particularly in London, are most unfortunate
for the global image of the UK - and not just ahead of the
Olympics but for the country's short term and long term
inbound tourism industry".
"With scenes of looting, violence and lawlessness flashing
across TV screens across the globe it is absolutely vital that
the government and its agencies, as well as the UK tourism
industry, work hard to put things in context.
"London is still one of the greatest cities in the world
with an enviable record of safety. It's important we stress
that these developments are not typical".
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, August 10, 2011, 18:09