British Tourist Authority - Trading As Visitbritain and Visitengland
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Annual Report and Accounts Year Ended 31 March 2020 British Tourist Authority - Trading as VisitBritain and VisitEngland HC 964 SG/2020/243 BRITISH TOURIST AUTHORITY TRADING AS VISITBRITAIN & VISITENGLAND ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2020 Presented to Parliament pursuant to Section 6(4) and Section 6(6) of the Development of Tourism Act 1969. Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 16 December 2020 HC 964 SG/2020/243 © British Tourist Authority copyright 2020 This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/official-documents. Any enquiries related to this publication should be sent to us at VisitBritain, 4th Floor, 151 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9SZ ISBN 978-1-5286-2217-2 CCS0620685730 12/20 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum. Printed in the UK by the APS Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. British Tourist Authority trading as VisitBritain and VisitEngland Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2020 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chairman’s Foreword.....................................................................................................1 1. THE PERFORMANCE REPORT ..................................................................................3 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................4 Chief Executive’s Report ...............................................................................................4 Business Model - Purpose, Objectives and Activities ....................................................6 The Challenges and Risks we have faced.................................................................. 16 Human Rights, Anti-bribery and Anti-corruption ......................................................... 21 Basis of Preparation and Going Concern ................................................................... 21 PERFORMANCE SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS ...................................................................... 22 Our Year at a Glance .................................................................................................. 22 In Their Words ............................................................................................................ 24 How We Measure our Impact ..................................................................................... 25 Financial Performance Review for the Year 2019/20 ................................................. 28 Performance against the 2019/20 Corporate Priorities .............................................. 32 Where are we going next? Our Plans for 2020/21 ..................................................... 49 2. ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT .................................................................................... 51 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE ............................................................................................... 52 The Director’s Report for the Year 2019/20 ................................................................ 52 Statement of Corporate Governance by the Accounting Officer ................................ 60 REMUNERATION AND STAFF REPORT .............................................................................. 69 Remuneration Report.................................................................................................. 69 Staff Report ................................................................................................................. 76 PARLIAMENTARY ACCOUNTABILITY DISCLOSURES ....................................................... 83 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT .................................................................................................... 84 STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTING OFFICER RESPONSIBILITIES......................................... 89 THE CERTIFICATE AND REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER AND AUDITOR GENERAL TO THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT AND THE SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT ......................... 90 3. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ....................................................................................... 95 Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure ....................................................................... 95 Statement of Financial Position ............................................................................................... 96 Statement of Cash Flows......................................................................................................... 97 Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity ........................................................................... 98 NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS ................................................................................................. 99 1 British Tourist Authority trading as VisitBritain and VisitEngland Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2020 Chairman’s Foreword Tourism is one of Britain's biggest success stories. 2019 was a year when the British Tourist Authority celebrated 50 years of operation, and was looking ahead to ambitious targets and plans for the next 50 years. However, COVID- 19 has had a profound impact on a sector based on people connecting. The most profound impact on the sector for a generation halted all trade, and all plans. The British Tourist Authority (BTA) has been working with and for the industry since The Right Hon. Sir Patrick COVID-19 struck. Plans have been worked up in the darkest depths of the McLoughlin CH lockdown to find a route out and back to operation. The 'We’re Good to Go' safety Chair mark developed with the national tourist boards brought together the industry, and VisitBritain/VisitEngland thousands have signed up since its launch to help give consumers the confidence to return to booking, traveling and enjoying the very best that the UK has to offer. Domestic tourism is, and will remain, the bedrock of the industry with over £100 billion spent last year alone. International travel has been hit hardest. The most valuable markets have been closed, and planning for the future remains uncertain and volatile. International visitors to the UK are the third largest service export, and the impact is profound. Not only do industries from retail to hospitality suffer as a result of their absence, but Britain's influence overseas is in large part shaped by peoples' experiences on the ground as borne out by the UK's high rankings in the soft power indices. The BTA has been working with governmental partners, with the industry, and with our customers to ensure that as clear a message as possible is told, and that people understand their options. From the Tourism Industry Emergency Response (TIER) group meetings which have been taking place since February, to many virtual seminars, webinars and impact assessment conversations, the team – both in the UK and around the world – have been redoubling efforts to get back to normal as quickly as possible. Tourism in the UK remains highly seasonal. This impacts productivity, but in a year when the severity of trade has caused as yet untold damage, a large chunk of the trading year has already gone. Therefore, efforts had been placed into stretching the season for as long as possible in 2020. Beyond leisure, the need to encourage the business events sector to return is an important and significant part of the BTA's work. In 2019, the tourism industry achieved a sector deal in the UK Government's Industrial Strategy. This saw a collective effort of industry working in partnership, developing ideas and ambitions for place, productivity and people, and work has been underway to continue to develop this important deal and to achieve the targets set. This is now more important than ever, and the partnership, sharing and collaborative working will form an important pillar of our future work. I want to pay tribute in particular to the work carried out by Steve Ridgway CBE in leading the bid and achieving a landmark deal for the industry. As 2020 is reflected upon in the future, many will rethink and evaluate how tourism operates as a sector. The BTA is at the forefront of working with government and industry to promote Britain, to restore domestic tourism as quickly as possible and to build a more resilient, sustainable and effective industry. All this is being done while we review our own processes and procedures to ensure compliance and good use of public money. 1 British Tourist Authority trading as VisitBritain and VisitEngland Annual Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2020 Chairman’s Foreword (Continued) I want to thank the BTA board and Denis Wormwell, former Chair of the VisitEngland Advisory Board (VEAB) for their support, and in particular the previous chair of the board, Steve Ridgway for his dedication and commitment to the BTA and the industry as a whole. Tourism has enormous potential to drive export earnings, domestic employment, local regeneration and the image of Britain overseas in an increasingly competitive world. There is little doubt that tourism has never faced a crisis like this, and everyone involved with the BTA, the wider sector and across the country, needs to do all they can to rebuild