Tourists: Destinations Outside London (Hansard, 12 November 1985)

§ Lord Gainford
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ The Secretary of State for Employment (Lord Young of Graffham)
My Lords, the Government are providing £150,000 towards the costs of a new British travel centre in London which the British Tourist Authority, with British Rail and other partners, hopes to open by the start of next season. The BTA will continue, in its many marketing and advertising schemes, to encourage our overseas tourists to visit places outside London. And as announced in the White Paper on airport policy, the Government are putting increased emphasis on regional airports in international negotiations on traffic rights.

§ Lord Gainford
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer. Can he give any information on the policy of leisure, pleasure and jobs, with the accent particularly on training persons for the tourist trade?

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, yes, although the question goes a little wide of dispersal of tourists. It is under the Youth Training Scheme that I think the training for tourism has received its biggest boost, and industrial training boards and management boards are involving many young people in a professional approach towards tourism. I hope very much that, as we move towards a two-year programme, we shall find even more professionalism appearing.

Baroness Sharpies
My Lords, can my noble friend say whether it is a new office; or is it an extension of the one already in Victoria Station, which I find quite excellent?

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, I believe that the office is in Lower Regent Street; so it is a different office.

§ Baroness Fisher of Rednal
My Lords, is the noble Lord considering any facilities whereby the regional airports might be used to extend the number of visitors going north of London?

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, I suspect that the problem is that the majority of tourists who come 134 to this country go straight to London, and many—unfortunately perhaps too many—stay here. Our policy is to try to encourage them to go to other parts of the country. I think that is a bigger problem than their first point of landing in this country.

§ Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede
My Lords, I hope the Government recognise that London is a fine attraction for first-time visitors and that they will do nothing in the measures they propose for dispersal of tourists to discourage people from coming to London in the first place.

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, no. This Government believe firmly in a voluntary approach to tourists.

The Earl of Selkirk
My Lords, is it possible to persuade people not to go to London in the first place? The present state of traffic in London is a major problem. It is going to cause great economic difficulty if we are not careful. There are other airports from which people can start, and from which they can visit London, but there is no need for them to come to London in the first place.

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, I think that our first objective should be to increase the number of overseas visitors who come to this country. Our second objective is to encourage them to see all our countryside and our great heritage outside London.

§ Lord Beswick
My Lords, bearing in mind these large sums that we are told we earn from the tourist industry, can the noble Lord say whether any offset is made for the quite intolerable inconvenience and the costs incurred by the natives of this country, especially in London, because of the increase in traffic?

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, I think it is only fair to point out that the major part of the spending on tourism in this country is by Britons going around Britain. That is a very desirable state of affairs. At the same time, I think we should make it very plain—unequivocally plain—that we welcome overseas visitors, just as we in turn hope they will welcome us to their shores.

§ Lord McNair
My Lords, has the noble Lord read the article on the back of The Times today which describes the problems caused by tourists who have been dispersed from London to York?

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, no. I find it difficult enough to keep up with articles on the front of The Times. But I shall take note.

§ Lord Leatherland
My Lords, if the Government wish to know how to deal with tourists will they consider sending a deputation of noble Lords to Nice, Monte Carlo and similar pleasure resorts so that they come back fully charged with knowledge?

§ Lord Young of Graffham
My Lords, I am sure that noble Lords are quite capable of making their own holiday arrangements.