LONDON, Oct 24: The UK tourist industry urged the government do to more to help its plight on Wednesday, as the British Tourist Authority (BTA) confirmed it was funding a new campaign to attract visitors to the UK with existing resources.

The BTA said it was investing five million pounds in a marketing drive to help British tourism recover from a double blow of foot-and-mouth disease and the September 11, attacks in the United States.

It estimated visitor numbers were down around 20 per cent this year, and the industry stood to lose around 2.5 billion pounds as a result of the two crises.

But, the BTA also said its campaign was not being funded by new money. Rather, resources were being reallocated from a 14.1 million pound grant provided by the UK government earlier this year to cope with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport told Reuters the government did not plan to provide fresh funds to the BTA following the attacks on the United States.

Anything’s welcome, but I don’t think five million is going to make much difference, said Miles Quest, spokesman for the British Hospitality Association.

Emily Bates, a spokeswoman for Bourne Leisure Group — the UK’s largest holiday operator — agreed, adding the BTA needed to do more to boost tourism within the UK.

The BTA said its campaign would focus on Britain’s four key strengths — great countryside, great heritage, great cities and great sport, and be backed by next year’s Golden Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II, and the Commonwealth Games, which are being held in Manchester, northwest England.

It said it was inviting creative tenders from marketing companies for its campaign, adding it would initially target seven markets — Belgium, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States.

In 2000, there were 25.2 million visitors to the UK, including more than four million from the United States.—Reuters