Outer London: If you promote it, they will come

9.34.00am GMT Thu 14th Dec 2006

Tourism in the capital is usually associated with the world-renowned landmarks in central London, but a report1 by the London Assembly calls for more to be done to encourage the 25million visitors to the city each year to also take in the sights of outer London.

Being overlooked by visitors means that outer areas are missing out on a bigger share of the £15billion total tourism spend in London each year and the 350,000 jobs the industry supports.

The report calls on Visit London - the official tourist organisation in the capital and the London Development Agency's (LDA) delivery partner - to increase the resources devoted to promoting tourism in outer London. This includes more financial resources, more coverage in promotional material, and more information on its website.

Visit London and the LDA need to work more closely with boroughs while, for their part, outer London boroughs need to make sure they designate a specific tourism contact to make it easier to liaise with Visit London and take advantage of its expertise, resources and materials.

Dee Doocey AM, Chair of the Economic Development, Culture, Sport and Tourism Committee said:

"Visit London must stop concentrating the vast majority of their resources in a few square miles of Central London, so that outer London can start to reap more of the huge economic benefits of the tourist industry in the capital.

"Outer London is home to a range of attractions that are less obvious but just as worth a visit as those that central London has to offer. If the outer London boroughs are promoted, visitors will come."

So what is there to see? As well as the more obvious clusters of attractions in areas like Greenwich or Richmond, there are many hidden gems in the capital's suburban zones, including the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill; Syon House and Gardens in Brentford; the Dulwich Picture Gallery; and museums in the East End including the Geffrye Museum, the Ragged School Museum and the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood.