How to encourage and prepare for the return of international visitors

Entry requirements become simpler – and cheaper – again from the end of October, when fully vaccinated passengers will be able to replace day 2 PCR tests with lateral flow tests, and there’s no longer a requirement to take pre-departure tests.

Read details of the changes happening in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The requirements in Wales are different.

The changes are unlikely to herald a flood of international visitors but they do signal the start of what is likely to be a growing trickle of travellers from non-red list countries.

There’s pent-up demand from people around the world to start travelling again, and with a slew of international events taking place here over the next year, from the Birmingham Commonwealth Games to Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there’s every reason for international travellers to choose the UK.

That said, the rebound is likely to be unpredictable in strength and timing, with tightenings of restrictions possible at short notice. While there’s not a lot you can do about that uncertainty, you can make sure your preparations for international visitors are as flexible as they were for domestic visitors through the various lockdowns of 2020 and early 2021. To develop a deeper understanding of where your first international visitors might come from, you can also:

• Stay up to speed with where flights are arriving from at your local airport; the same applies if you happen to be located near a cruise port.
• As you’ve got used to doing, continue to keep an eye on the latest and predicted changes to international travel.
• Recovery and vaccinations are not happening at the same pace around the world. Some countries are opening before others as their vaccination programmes forge ahead; keep an eye on developments.

Of course, the same common obstacles to market for international travellers as before Covid-19 will exist, plus a host of new ones caused by the pandemic. Many of the new obstacles will already be familiar as they’re shared with domestic visitors:

• Lead times: You can expect lead times to be shorter as international visitors channel that pent-up demand into last-minute breaks
• Residual anxiety: There will naturally be nervousness about catching Covid-19, before, after and during a visit to your attraction.
• Reluctance to commit: Increased flexibility in rebooking and cancellation options will be attractive.

Here are 7 ways you can help reassure international visitors that your attraction – and the UK as a whole, because this needs to be a team effort – is a safe and desirable place to visit.

1. Make sure any new signage added to your visitor attraction over the last year and a half, such as one-way systems and hand-sanitising stations, is easily interpretable regardless of language or translated into the most common languages spoken by visitors to your VA.
   
   
2. The same applies to your website. Make sure new information about your health and safety procedures is translated and readily available for international visitors. Covid-19-related anxieties are likely to affect international visitors’ buying decisions and behaviour for some time yet so this reassurance can help influence their booking decisions.
   
   
3. When recruiting new customer-facing staff, look for bilingual or multilingual applicants.
   
   
4. Many independent travel agencies faced financial difficulties and even bankruptcies during the pandemic. If you haven’t already done so, make time to re-evaluate any overseas contacts. Given the absence of some agencies you may have previously relied on, you might have the opportunity to sell directly to visitors and/or explore other routes to market.
   
   
5. Contactless technologies will be just as appealing to international visitors keen to avoid quarantine on their return home. To make sure international visitors don’t incur extortionate roaming fees, it’s more important than ever that your visitor attraction has strong wifi across the site so that visitors can reliably use your VA’s apps, online audio guides, etc – especially if you’ve recently invested in digital technology.
   
   
6. Visiting friends and family will be a top priority for people able to travel internationally once again. Draw them to your attraction with special offers for members and non-members looking for places to take their visitors.
   
   
7. Although not specifically updated for a post-Covid world, VisitBritain’s Attract international visitors toolkits are helpful refreshers as you prepare to welcome international visitors to your attraction once again.

Download the new Visitor Experience guide