Tourism is changing. The question now isn’t just how to sustain a place but how to make it better for locals, for landscapes and for the travelers who come to connect.
Across the globe, Destination Marketing Organizations are rethinking how to spread visitors more evenly, protect their most fragile sites and deliver real value back to communities. One of the leaders in this shift is Britain.
We spoke with Gavin Landry, International Director of VisitBritain, about what it takes to move from talk to action. From smarter ticketing at Stonehenge to AI-powered itineraries that nudge people off the beaten path, Landry offers a playbook any destination can adapt.
What is the most significant positive trend you’ve observed that you believe destinations should embrace in the coming years?
One of the most exciting conversations we’re having, internally and with partners, is around regenerative tourism.
Whereas sustainable tourism asks how we can do the least harm, regenerative tourism asks how we can do the most good. It means linking product and product development decisions to the individual traveler so each trip confers the maximum benefit.
Younger travelers, typically under 45, are already there: they stay longer, travel slower, use a hub‑and‑spoke model and want truly immersive experiences. The industry is maturing, too, shifting from “how many people can we drive into a place?” to “how can we steward this place for everyone’s benefit?”
Can you provide some specific examples of how regenerative tourism is being implemented in the UK?
Certainly. We have several examples across the UK:
- Wales offers travelers the ability to sign a contract, a voluntary agreement, to travel responsibly, sustainably and in a regenerative way. Visit Wales facilitates this intentional approach for visitors.
- Scotland has heavily focused on its unbuilt assets, such as its natural and geographic beauty. They work almost exclusively with tour operators and travel agent consortia who are aligned with creating a regenerative visitor economy, focusing on partners who develop products and itineraries that foster regional economic growth, not just visitor volume.
- England, particularly the Northeast, has become a hotbed for regenerative tourism. This includes local investments in infrastructure, bringing back previously unviable fallow assets and new approaches to marketing globally. VisitEngland’s five-year strategy emphasizes the stewardship aspect of their work.
You can even look at England’s two prehistoric icons for regenerative tourism.
- Stonehenge now offers a fully‑fledged visitor journey with timed tickets and a tight partnership with the coach and tour operator community.
- Just down the road, Avebury has deliberately never been pushed in international marketing so that the site can be preserved.
In both cases, the custodians made conscious choices: market one site and de‑market the other. This gives each a long, regenerative life in the visitor economy.
VisitEngland has also recently launched The Regenerative Tourism Guide, designed to support tourism businesses and grow the visitor economy in an inclusive, accessible and sustainable way, ensuring that all corners of England continue to be a fantastic place to visit.
In destinations experiencing overtourism, what are your thoughts on strategies like visitor caps or timed ticketing, and how do you approach capacity management?
I see it simply as capacity management, an art, not a science.
Take the Roman Baths in Bath. Because the community owns the site, they’ve chosen to move most group business to after 2 p.m., leaving mornings open for independent travelers to enjoy a more genuine visit.
The pandemic taught us valuable spacing disciplines, and we now advise attractions to extend their season by opening a month earlier and closing a month later. This shift brings visitors into shoulder months like September or October, often at better prices and with a better experience.
Our philosophy isn’t to “park it” or “put it on lock.” Some areas shouldn’t be promoted during peak times, but they can still attract visitors during quieter periods—student groups, for example.
Ultimately, this is about responsible travel. We aim to balance a great visitor experience with the quality of life for locals.
What do you consider the single most effective technique VisitBritain has employed to encourage more responsible visitor behavior and drive regional growth and dispersal?
Beyond working with local communities and stakeholders on distribution and accreditation, like our “We’re Good to Go” campaign during the pandemic, the most effective technique for driving regional growth and dispersal has been the concept of “As Seen on Screen” tourism, brought to life at VisitBritain through our global ‘Starring GREAT Britain’ campaign. Films and TV shows are powerful motivators for travel. VisitBritain’s research shows that more than 9-out-of-10 potential visitors to the UK said they were interested in visiting film and TV locations and places seen-on-screen during their visit.
Our Starring GREAT Britain campaign leverages the power of film, television and streaming services to generate interest in destinations and inspire visitors to explore more, stay longer and to come and visit now, boosting tourism spending across Britain.
For example, a Bridgerton fan might head to Bath, while a Harry Potter fan could visit filming locations like Oxford or try their hand at broomstick training lessons at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.
This approach is incredibly effective because it directly taps into consumer behavior that has shifted. It offers cut-through that traditional marketing struggles to achieve, speaking directly to the DNA of destinations and presenting them in a more powerful and understandable way.
An unexpected benefit has been opening new markets, such as the Chinese audience seeing the UK’s connection to films like Mission Impossible. It’s a lot less expensive than launching entirely new campaigns, as we’re drafting off of brand equity that already exists in these household names.
The UK has become a dominant force in the creative industries due to its workforce and diverse locations, making this strategy economically viable and valuable for the country’s prosperity. It’s the next level of actualization for us as a national tourism office.
How is VisitBritain leveraging technology, particularly AI, to enhance the visitor experience and achieve its corporate goals?
While still early days, AI is proving very exciting for us.
Internally, we’re using AI to increase business efficiency, better understand our consumers and provide greater value to our stakeholders.
We’re exploring how AI can help us meet our goals in ways that feel both useful and engaging for travelers. One area we’ve trialled is using generative AI to create fun, social-first content that taps into cultural moments. For example, when Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour arrived in London, we used AI to design a playful “Welcome Back to London” post for Instagram, weaving in Swift-inspired imagery and nods to her UK fan base.
These moments allow us to connect with audiences in a fresh, creative way while still aligning with our broader objectives around dispersal, seasonality and encouraging repeat visits. It’s early days, but these experiments are helping us better understand how technology can enhance storytelling, spark engagement and keep Britain top of mind for travelers around the world.
We’ve also trained our internal Large Language Model (LLM) to analyze open-ended responses from our marketing surveys. What used to take our research team weeks to process for insights, the LLM now does in two days, categorizing responses as positive, neutral or unhelpful. This has dramatically increased our operational efficiency, allowing our global marketing team to receive insights and adjust campaigns much more quickly.
This integration of technology ensures a win-win scenario, benefiting both our corporate goals and the visitor experience by managing visitor flow and fostering repeat visitation.
For other Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) looking for stealable ideas, what advice would you offer, especially regarding quick wins?
The first piece of advice is to consider how the community feels about the impact of tourism and ensure they are involved in driving positive change.
Secondly, and perhaps an unsung hero, is distribution. We invested in a middleware called Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB), emulating a successful Australian model.
TXGB connects thousands of UK suppliers directly to hundreds of distribution networks globally. This allows attractions, even smaller, domestically focused ones like Mountain Goat, a tour operator in the Lake District, to easily manage their inventory, set pricing and yield business to international markets.
The fact that major distributors like Expedia are now hiring sustainability officers underscores the importance of thoughtful distribution in achieving regenerative and regional growth goals. Cracking the nut on how to effectively distribute and make your attractions internationally ready is crucial.
If there was one word you would choose to capture the essence of a visitor’s experience in the UK, what would you hope it would be?
The one word I would hope for is authentic.
The most compelling experiences in the UK are those authentic moments where travelers might meet a local, stumble upon a hidden gem, learn something new, and ultimately feel they’ve become a better human.
Even new tourist attractions are now being built with the intent of offering these genuine experiences. It’s about getting sucked in and truly understanding the place.
Meet Gavin Landry
Prior to joining VisitBritain, Gavin was Executive Director of Tourism of New York State, leading the iconic I LOVE NEW YORK marketing campaign. During his tenure with I LOVE NEW YORK, New York’s tourism industry reached record heights both in terms of visitation and economic impact. He grew the program from USD $9 million to $70 million, adding a potent grant program, a world-class digital team and an experiential marketing arm.
Gavin has held a number of senior roles in the travel industry. He ran commercial hotels across America and headed a Destination Marketing Organisation in Saratoga Springs, New York, for over a decade.
He is a graduate of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration at the prestigious Ivy League institution Cornell University. Gavin has also received accolades from the New York State Tourism Industry Association and from New York University.
