The Mayor of London and the London Assembly have confirmed that the Let’s Do London tourism campaign, which South Bank BID alongside industry partners helped develop and fund, brought in £289m additional spending to the capital.
The Let’s Do London Campaign, the biggest domestic and international campaign ever delivered on behalf of London, aimed to inspire travellers to choose London for their next trip by shining a spotlight on the city’s diverse range of attractions, exhibitions, and events.
Alongside Merlin Entertainments, another key industry partner, South Bank BID was an initial founder of the London Tourism Recovery Board which helped advocate for and develop the campaign. The BID and Merlin’s involvement ensured South Bank received high levels of visibility across the creative aspects of the campaign and its messaging.
The campaign overall in 2022 has delivered a return on investment of £28 for every £1 spent through the combined contribution of GLA and industry funding. It is also estimated that the campaign will overall bring an additional 600,000 visitors to London from other parts of the UK, Germany, France and the USA.
With the tourism economy a crucial component of South Bank’s business landscape, following the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic the BID quickly acted to advocate for and support strategic initiatives that would encourage visitors, both domestically and internationally, to return to London when safe to do so. The BID’s commissioned ‘Engine of Recovery’ research revealed that visitors to 5 of the culture sector businesses in South Bank alone accounted pre-pandemic for about £1 in every £25 of spend by all leisure visitors in London, creating 8,100 jobs, demonstrating how crucial South Bank’s recovery was both for local businesses but also London as a whole.
Alongside helping fund the domestic and international campaigns, the BID continues to work with London & Partners and the GLA on ongoing promotional and local activations to highlight all the exciting events taking place in South Bank. This included partnering with the the Mayor on 2022’s Spring Into London campaign, where the BID funded the installation of the London Lights on Observation Point, which drew thousands of visitors during February half term.
To read more about the success of the Let’s Do London campaign, click here.
