VisitBritain kicks off football tourism campaign in lead-up to FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 is fast approaching, and VisitBritain is harnessing the opportunity to promote Britain as the home of football, kicking off a new campaign in Australia.

Football is the top sporting draw for international visitors to the UK and almost 10% of Australians who visited in 2019 attended a football game or watched a match on TV during their trip, spending a total of £290 million.

VisitBritain’s advertising campaign in Australia gets under way on 17 July and runs throughout the Women’s World Cup, promoting football-related experiences and attractions across Britain, alongside messages of welcome celebrating a shared love of sport.

The campaign is building on the strong recovery in spending from Australian visitors in the UK. Latest statistics show that Australian visits contributed £1.1 billion to the UK visitor economy in 2022, with Australia moving up the ranks to become Britain’s fourth most valuable inbound tourism market. Australians also delivered record spend per visit in 2022, spending £1,547, a 40% increase on 2019 and almost double the global spending average of £848.

VisitBritain’s Country Manager for Australia and New Zealand, Maria Sykes said:

"As Australia prepares to co-host the FIFA Women's World Cup, VisitBritain is stoking the friendly sporting rivalry between our two nations with the launch of a new campaign, putting the birthplace of modern football in the spotlight. We’re inviting Aussie travellers to not just watch from the sidelines of the tournament but to come and experience Britain's one-of-a-kind football tourism offer.

From the thrill of a live match and exploring vibrant football cities across the nation to scaling the heights of a stadium before walking in the footsteps of sporting greats, no matter where your loyalty lies, Britain offers endless opportunities for visitors to immerse themselves in the game year-round."

The multi-channel destination campaign will see VisitBritain unveil digital billboards in high visibility locations across Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney showing fans enjoying matches in Britain with light-hearted headlines, promoting Britain as the home of football and more. The outdoor campaign will be supported by social media activity as well as a content partnership producing a series of short films exploring Britain’s football cities including London, Liverpool, and Manchester.

VisitBritain latest research demonstrates the increasing importance of football in driving inbound tourism to the UK. There were 1.5 million visits overall to the UK in 2019 that included watching a live football match with those visitors spending £1.4 billion in total during their trip in 2019, 5% of all visitor spending that year.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

Latest statistics on visits from Australia to the UK and visitor spending:

• The latest official statistics from VisitBritain for visits and spend from Australia are for 2022. These show that visitors from Australia spent £1.1 billion on their trips to the UK in 2022, moving Australia to fourth most valuable visitor market behind US, France and Germany. Australia was the fifth most valuable source market in 2019. More information about football tourism:

• VisitBritain’s ‘Football Tourism in the UK’ report was published in October 2021. Please see the press release issued at the time with key findings here. The report shows that almost two-thirds of trips that included attending a match took place in either January to March or October to December, cementing football’s importance in driving inbound tourism outside the peak travel seasons.

• The Football Tourism report also shows that Manchester United's Old Trafford Stadium and Liverpool's Anfield Stadium attracted the most people from overseas, drawing 226,000 and 213,000 spectators respectively.

Football Experiences in Britain:

• Visitors to Britain can catch all the action at a FA Women’s Super League (WSL) match with 10 Matildas playing across a range of teams during the 2023/24 season including Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Everton, Tottenham, West Ham and Aston Villa. This year’s WSL season will kick off on 29 September.
• The 2023/24 English Premiere League season will kick off on 11 August. Visitors can witness Aussie, Ange Postecoglou make history as the first Australian manager in the Premier League following his historic appointment as Tottenham Hotspur’s new head coach.
• The Tottenham Hotspur Dare Skywalk – visitors can see London from new heights on this incredible urban adventure, including breathtaking views of the London Skyline and the pitch below on this 90-minute experience.
• Manchester is the home of Manchester United’s Old Trafford Stadium, with regular tours of the iconic grounds, the National Football Museum in Manchester - with over 2500 items on display from trophies to artworks detailing the history and culture of ‘The Beautiful Game’ to even a football-themed hotel, Hotel Football.
• In Liverpool, visitors can challenge themselves with a brand-new adrenaline-fueled adventure as they descend 100ft down the side of Liverpool FC stadium on the Anfield Abseil.
• Arsenal offers a unique VIP tour of the stadium and even match days with its legend experiences – where visitors can get guided tours and experiences with some of the club’s former players.
• Chelsea F.C. provides its own accommodation at Stamford Bridge in the form of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.
• The interactive museum at Molineux - home of Wolverhampton Wanderers since 1889 - takes visitors on a journey through early years of modern football and club’s growth into modern era. 
• The Scottish Football Museum traces the history of Scottish football from the 19th century right up until today.
• Wrexham, Wales will soon be home to the Football Museum of Wales (opening 2026) and is also home to the newly promoted Wrexham AFC (third oldest professional football club in the world).
• TOCA Social - opened August 2021 in London and is the world's first interactive football and dining experience, combining immersive gaming and food and drink.
• Visitors can follow in the footsteps of fictional American football coach, Ted Lasso on a walking tour of Richmond with Brit Movie Tours.

For more inspirational content on Britain’s footballing cities, please visit: www.visitbritain.com/en/things-to-do/britains-best-footballing-cities.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 commences on 20 July with the Final scheduled to play on August 20. England is in Group D. For more information on the tournament, click here.