The Autumn Budget: supporting tourism businesses and the destinations that help them thrive

Reflecting on last week's Autumn Budget, it is clear that several of the announcements will be welcomed by businesses across the visitor economy, particularly the shops, pubs, cafés and independent operators that bring our high streets and visitor destinations to life.

For many tourism and hospitality businesses continuing to navigate rising costs and economic uncertainty, targeted support can make a real difference. The Government's commitment to making the UK the best place in the world to start, grow and innovate a business is one that the tourism industry will rightly support. The key question now is how these measures translate into long-term growth for businesses, communities and the destinations they help sustain.

A number of announcements are particularly relevant:

🔹 Support for high streets and hospitality. New business rates relief and a two-year real-terms freeze for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties offer some welcome support for eligible businesses in England.

🔹 Backing British businesses to innovate and grow. The Budget's wider focus on investment, innovation and helping businesses scale presents opportunities across the visitor economy, from independent operators developing new experiences to businesses investing in the future of their offer.

But alongside these welcome measures, there is a bigger question we should consider: how do we turn support for individual businesses into lasting growth for the destinations and communities they serve?

The UK visitor economy is worth £147 billion. Behind that figure are businesses, attractions, accommodation providers, cultural venues, events and countless other organisations that make our places worth visiting.

And behind successful destinations are the people and organisations that connect them: bringing partners together, supporting local businesses, developing new experiences, understanding visitor trends and ensuring tourism contributes to wider economic growth and community wellbeing.

Our State of Destination-Making 2026 research, informed by 91 destination leaders across the UK and Ireland, highlighted a growing challenge. The role of destination organisations has expanded, but the resources and support available to them have not kept pace.

Many continue to deliver remarkable work with small teams and limited budgets. But resilience and goodwill alone cannot provide the foundations for a £147 billion visitor economy to flourish.

This matters now more than ever as responsibilities move closer to local areas through devolution and new arrangements for regional economic development.

There is a real opportunity to put the visitor economy at the heart of these conversations. But greater local responsibility must be matched by the capacity, expertise and resources to deliver. Otherwise, we risk widening the gap between destinations able to invest in their future and those struggling to maintain essential support for their businesses.

The Tourism Alliance’s Autumn Budget submission made a number of recommendations, including a properly resourced National Visitor Economy Strategy, wider business rates reform, sustained funding for VisitBritain, VisitEngland and Local Visitor Economy Partnerships, and clear safeguards around any Overnight Visitor Levy.

The Budget offers some welcome progress on business rates, but important questions remain about the longer-term investment and coordination needed to unlock the visitor economy’s full potential.

Our message to those shaping the future of our destinations is simple: recognise it, resource it, connect it and equip it.

As new devolution deals and strategic arrangements take shape, we encourage local and regional leaders to read our State of Destination-Making 2026 report and involve destination organisations in these discussions from the outset.

Tourism is not simply about attracting visitors. It is about creating stronger businesses, more vibrant places and lasting benefits for the people who live, work and visit there.

Successful destinations do not happen by accident. Let’s make sure the structures and support around them give them the opportunity to thrive.

🔗 Read the Government’s Autumn Budget announcement

🔗 Read TMI’s State of Destination-Making 2026 report

🔗 Explore the Tourism Alliance’s Autumn Budget asks