As an inbound tour operator with a growing presence in the United States, we’re hoping that the global media attention surrounding next week’s visit by US President Barack Obama will help promote Britain as a tourism destination.

From the White House... 

...to Windsor Castle.

The United States is Britain’s most valuable inbound visitor market, with visitors from the US spending £2.3 billion in the first nine months of 2015 and visits up 7% to 2.6 million compared to the same period in 2014.

Janet Redler, Chief Executive of Janet Redler Travel & Tourism, said: “The President’s visit will help ensure that coverage of Britain on news and social media channels across the USA will reach peak levels over the next week or so. We’re hoping that, as he tours the country, many more people across the United States will see just what a special and beautiful place Britain is and will consider visiting in future.”

VisitBritain Marketing Director Joss Croft said: “President Obama’s visit and the accompanying international media exposure is a fantastic opportunity for us to show people that the UK is packed full of amazing experiences that visitors – including the President – can only get here.

“During his last visit in 2014 President Obama went to Cardiff Castle and Stonehenge and, as a world leader, he will have many memorable moments during this trip, including dining with Her Majesty The Queen at Windsor Castle, where he also has the chance to see rare Shakespearean folios in the year we commemorate the 400th anniversary of the Bard. We hope he will share these experiences with his millions of social media followers and inspire more people to book a trip to come to the UK and discover their own amazing moments.”

President Obama has the highest number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans of any world leader with 73 million followers and 48 million fans respectively. With this in mind, VisitBritain is putting a call out for the President to tweet during his visit using #OMGB (Oh My Great Britain) - the hashtag at the heart of the organisation’s marketing campaign for 2016 to promote Britain as the ‘Home of Amazing Moments’.

Research by VisitBritain found that 84% of people surveyed in the US had used social media at some stage during their holiday planning while almost 70% said content posted online by friends inspired them to visit a place.

If you are thinking about organising a visit to Britain and would like us to put together a tailor-made tour for you or your group, please do get in touch!