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History
British Destinations was founded on 1st April 2011 from a merger of two organisations that had previously represented local authority tourism services and Destination Management Organisations: namely the British Resorts and Destinations Association (BRADA) and Destination Performance UK (DP UK).
The British Resorts and Destinations Association (BRADA) was originally formed in 1921 and developed from a traditional local government association to become a national body that operated as a trade association representing the wider interests of local authority sponsored tourism. The work of the Association covered a wide range of areas. Although originally set up and run as a lobbying and advisory body, since its reorganisation in 1993, the Association expanded its offer to include a wide range of added value services. These included cost effective national advertising campaigns and PR and press initiatives.
Destination Performance UK (DP UK) was founded in 1999 as the National Tourism Best Value Group, initially to provide Local Authority tourism services with a mechanism for demonstrating the value of tourism during the Best Value regime. With more than 100 members, it evolved to become the primary membership organisation for destinations with an interest in performance evaluation and best practice. Its key service was to provide a benchmarking facility for destination intelligence, backed up by the provision of advice sheets demonstrating best practice on topical issues. Through meetings of its various category groups, it also enabled members to exchange information and discuss common problems.
British Destinations combines the strengths of both BRADA and DP UK to provide an enhanced service for destinations throughout the UK, which will help them meet the challenges of the new local tourism agenda being promoted by the Government.
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