Local entrepreneur, campaigner and farmer James Wright is calling for a U-turn on short-sighted cuts to UK tourism promotion. The UK’s flagship international tourism campaign has been hit with a 41% budget cut, despite tourism being the nation’s third largest industry, generating over £127 billion annually and supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, particularly in rural communities.
The ‘GREAT’ campaign, which has helped showcase Britain’s countryside, food, culture, and attractions to global audiences, has seen its funding reduced from £60 million to just £35 million, according to a Financial Times report. This move comes as other high-impact promotional efforts, such as campaigns supporting British food and drink exports, have also faced steep reductions.
Critics argue that the cuts undermine efforts to attract overseas visitors and threaten the survival of countless small businesses that rely on tourism, particularly in areas like Exmoor, Mid-Devon, and West Somerset, where tourism is a key economic driver.
James Wright, a farmer and entrepreneur from Exmoor, is calling for an immediate reversal of the cuts. “This is short-sighted in the extreme,” Wright said. “Tourism isn’t just a ‘nice-to-have’, it’s one of Britain’s biggest economic assets, and it pays its own way many times over. The ‘GREAT’ campaign was one of the most successful promotional efforts we’ve ever run. Cutting it now, when rural and hospitality businesses are already under pressure, is a huge mistake.”
Wright, who visited the Exmoor National Park Visitor Centre in Lynmouth this week, praised the work of local teams to promote the area, but warned that Labour’s broader economic priorities are misguided. “Instead of investing in sectors that bring in income and create jobs, they’re handing more money to the unions and expanding bureaucracy. It’s not just bad economics, it’s completely the wrong priorities.”
Wright is urging MPs and ministers to restore and strengthen funding for international tourism promotion, and to put Britain’s rural businesses at the heart of the country’s growth strategy.
“If Labour are serious about growth, they should be backing the industries that already deliver it. Not pulling the rug out from underneath them.”
The cuts come at the same time as the closure of the Minehead Information Centre, a long-running hub on the seafront of one of Somerset’s most popular tourist towns. The centre has not reopened at all this year and has now permanently closed due to a lack of sustainable funding, leaving visitors without a dedicated source of local guidance and support.
