HEALTH RESORTS AND WATERING PLACES. (Hansard, 30 June 1936)

§ Mr. ROLAND ROBINSON

I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to amend the Health Resorts and Watering Places Act, 1921, and for purposes connected therewith. As this matter has not been before the House for some time, I feel it is my duty to give some explanation of the purpose of this Bill. Briefly, the Bill empowers local authorities to advertise within the British Isles the amenities of their district as a health or watering place, in any manner the council may think fit, provided that the expenditure in any one financial year does not exceed the amount which would be produced by a rate of 1½d. During recent years widespread advertising has brought into prominence very serious rivals to the British holiday resorts. The principal among these are the foreign holiday towns and spas, sea cruises and tours arranged abroad. Like every other form of competition, they have been privileged to employ whatever form of advertising they think fit, and that their methods are well chosen has been proved by the successes which they have enjoyed. British holiday towns, on the other hand, may only advertise their amenities in the three ways set out by the Act of 1921 which I seek to amend. They are: by advertisements in newspapers, by the issue of handbooks and leaflets and by means of placards in railway stations. Even then they may not use these methods of advertising unless they make a profit from the hire of deck chairs and the rent of bathing machines and entertainment pitches. It will thus be evident that British holiday resorts are at a serious disadvantage as compared with their competitors, and they believe that their powers of advertising should be compatible with the importance of the business they control, the value of which is assessed at some millions of pounds and governs the livelihood of the majority of the citizens in the towns concerned. Their present rights with regard to advertising were laid down in 1921. Times and conditions have changed since then, and they are asking this House to free them from the fetters imposed upon them at that time, and I believe this Bill will remove some very serious anomalies.

230 I am asking leave to introduce the Bill at the unanimous request of the Association of Health and Pleasure Resorts, which is representative of every holiday resort in Great Britain. It is not a subject of party controversy. I am pleased to say that I am supported by Members of this House drawn from all parties. I feel that I should tell the House, also, that this matter has been fully discussed with the Ministry of Health, from whom we have received very valuable assistance and co-operation. We have altered the provisions of this Bill in order to meet their views, and I venture to submit to the House that, as a result of their cooperation, the Bill is undoubtedly a very sound one. I ask the House to remember that the industry represented by the holiday resorts is one of the most important in our country, and that on its success depends the livelihood of many of our people. I need only remind the House that in 1929 France had an income of over £100,000,000 from tourists, whereas in this country in 1934 our tourists' income from abroad was some £25,000,000. The size of the industry is obvious when we compare it with the exports of the woollen industry, amounting to something over £28,000,000, and the exports of the coal industry, amounting to just over £31,000,000. If our export trade in the holiday resort industry is so big as that, how much greater is the business of catering for those British residents who prefer to take their holidays at home0? I invite the House to co-operate with me in securing the passage of this Bill, which will remove the handicap under which British holiday resorts are suffering.