VisitBritain this month expects to publish a long-term strategy, backed by Government ministers, that aims to attract 40 million overseas visitors who will spend £31.5 billion a year by 2020.
But the body has confirmed so-called "daylight saving" will not be included, despite repeated claims extra light in the evening would be a boon for tourism, in southern England in particular.
Many argue the Westcountry would benefit to the tune of £100 million a year from a summertime tourism boom by moving to Greenwich Mean Time plus one (GMT +1) in the winter and GMT +2 in the summer – the same as Central European Time.
But Patricia Yates, director of strategy and communications of VisitBritain, said there had been no mention of daylight saving when the agency consulted on its strategy with the industry.
The Government took steps towards changing the clocks by supporting a backbench MP's proposals for an impact study, but the plan ran of time in Parliament.
Opposition stems principally from Scotland, where many claim the north of the country would be plunged into darkness. But supporters claim lighter evenings all-year round will cut road deaths, boost tourism and reduce energy use.
The strategy, instead, is likely to focus on improving airport capacity in the South East of England and streamlining the visa process discouraging overseas visitors.
During a briefing with journalists, Ms Yates was asked whether daylight saving was included. "It's not, no," she said. "We did the biggest consultation on it we have ever done. It has changed post-consultation – and we have had consultation both in this country and overseas – and there was not one submission that mentioned daylight saving. So it wasn't in there in the beginning and it's not in there now."
VisitBritain, which is funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, is tasked with attracting overseas visitors to come to the UK, rather than encourage Britons to holiday at home. Some 31 million foreign visitors came to Britain last year, a 1% increase. Some had predicted numbers would actually drop last year with tourists put off by the London Olympics.
Devon and Cornwall prizes tourism more highly than any other region in the UK, according to a VisitBritain-commissioned survey. Tourism is seen as a driver for economic growth and jobs locally for 77.1% of people in the two counties, the Survation poll found. And 68.9% of those surveyed in Devon and Cornwall feel that the UK government should do more to promote tourism to Britain. The number of people wanting the state to do more was 77.9% in Wales and 76.2% in Cumbria and Northumberland.
