§ 2. Mr. Simon CoombsTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the number of visitors to Northern Ireland in 1993; and what is his estimate of their total expenditure.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Mr. Tim Smith)In 1993, 1.26 million 365 visitors came to Northern Ireland spending approximately £173 million. That was the fifth successive annual increase in visitor numbers. I regard that as highly encouraging in what was a difficult year for the tourist trade worldwide.
§ Mr. CoombsDoes my hon. Friend agree that those are excellent figures, notwithstanding the difficulties in the Province that have been referred to in the past few minutes? What further steps is the excellent Northern Ireland tourist board proposing to take further to promote tourism for visitors from outside the United Kingdom?
§ Mr. SmithIn the past few weeks, the Northern Ireland tourist board has opened a new office in Glasgow to encourage more visitors from Scotland. Yesterday, I opened a conference bureau in Belfast, which is designed to encourage more conference visitors to the city.
§ Mr. Clifford ForsytheDoes the Minister agree that many of those visitors came through the port of Larne last year and that to enable them to get to various parts of the Province we should have good lines of communication? When will the Minister dual the carriageway between Gingles corner in Larne and Corr's corner in Newtownabbey? When will he do a similar job to the A26 between Antrim and Ballymena, which would not only open up the north and north-west of the Province to visitors but assist those people who have to travel from that part of the Province to the new hospital in Antrim?
Mr. William O'BrienWill the Minister comment on recent reports about a 5.5 per cent. drop in the number of visitors to Northern Ireland over the past year? Will he also comment on the reduction in the grant to the Northern Ireland tourist board and accept that now is the wrong time to cut grant, when we want to build up confidence and increase visitors to the Province? The tourist board has yet to reach its potential and more jobs can be created. Will he give an assurance that he will back continuing support for the tourist board and help local authorities that are pressing to introduce more tourism in their areas?
§ Mr. SmithDuring the past five years or so, resources devoted to the tourist board were increased substantially. We now have an extremely professional organisation which, given the difficult image problem that the Province has, is doing an excellent job.