London is home to a wonderful and eclectic mix of places, attractions and experiences. And visitors who stay longer tend to have a more enriching and rewarding experience.
Find out more about London's experience economy, and discover London & Partners' London 2030 Tourism Vision and Visitor Experience Strategy, which are aimed at encouraging visitors to see and experience more of London.
By making London the best destination in the world, we will help create new jobs, support small businesses, high streets and London's nightlife, while offering Londoners brilliant experiences.London 2030 Tourism Vision
Growing the visitor economy
A strong visitor experience is essential to encourage repeat visitors and longer stays.
Key factors to ensure a good visitor experience include: essentials such as internet and connectivity, access to unique experiences from food to culture, and a vibrant mix of diverse and authentic places to visit across London.
To support destinations and attract new experiences and events, the driving force behind London & Partners' Experience Economy team is the London 2030 Tourism Vision, which guides the Visitor Experience Strategy. Both centre around a visitor-first approach.
London 2030 Tourism Vision
This aligns with London & Partners’ mission, which is to create economic growth that is resilient, sustainable and inclusive.
Discover our ambitions, approach and the actions we will take to help shape growth across London over the next decade in the London Growth Plan, which identifies the experience economy and empowering local places as central pillars.
The experience economy matters because it is what makes London a brilliant place to visit, study and live. The visitor economy can help to regenerate local areas and sustain vibrant places for residents to enjoy alongside tourists.
London Growth Plan
Discover how we plan to help shape growth across London over the next decade.
Why this work is important
Research highlights that visitors to London who stay longer and explore more have higher satisfaction rates, are more likely to return and recommend the city.
Visitor trends also indicate a desire for more authentic, locally inspired experiences, with consumers prioritising experiences over material goods, even when travelling.
We are now in a "moments-driven" economy, where spend on experiences has overtaken spend on material goods, meaning we are more likely to choose to live, work or spend time in places which make us feel good about ourselves.
The experience sector underpins the destination – the greater the depth and breadth, the stronger London’s offer.
London is also very well placed for growth. The UK experience sector is worth about £130bn, with a forecast £10bn investment in London over the next decade.
Driving forward the experience economy
To oversee this work, London & Partners' Experience Economy team is focusing on three objectives:
1. Supporting places
To showcase the vibrant mix of authentic places to visit across London, we are:
- Working with London’s places on activating their placemaking and visitor experience strategies.
- Supporting London’s visitor hubs with access to relevant and timely visitor data and insights.
- Embedding a sustainability framework that will help to elevate the performance of London’s tourism industry.
2. Attracting events and experiences
We plan to grow and diversify London’s major events and experiences to reach global audiences, activate the city and put new destinations on the map.
Discover why London is the ideal destination for international events.
3. Telling London’s story brilliantly
Our marketing helps shape and tell London’s story in several ways:
- We manage Visit London and multiple social platforms which reach hundreds of millions of people.
- We coordinate citywide partnership marketing opportunities, leveraging the London brand with brands, influencers and other London stakeholders to shine a spotlight on London’s places.
- We facilitate distribution partnerships with the travel trade, Google Maps, online travel agents and review sites.
