HL Deb 31 October 1988 vol 501 cc3-4

2.42 p.m.

Lord Gainford asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many visitors came to Great Britain in 1987 and how much money they spent.

The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)

My Lords, in 1987 overseas residents made 15.4 million visits to the United Kingdom, spending £6.2 billion.

Lord Gainford

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that encouraging Answer. Has he any information as to how the Government can encourage those in our tourist industry to help increase the number of tourists who come here from abroad, especially with regard to any criticisms that they may have about value for money at our hotels and the service and food that they receive?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, the important thing in this business, as in most others, is to ensure that the customer receives what he wants and what he can afford to pay for. It is therefore incumbent on our tourist industry to ensure that it provides the value for money to which my noble friend has referred.

Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede

My Lords, can the Minister say anything about the average expenditure of tourists last year compared with the year before, and whether there was any notable change in the breakdown of the number of visitors from different geographical sectors?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, the breakdown of visitors remains broadly as it has been previously; namely, about 25 per cent. of the visitors come on business trips of one kind or another and the remainder are either tourists or family visitors. As for the expenditure, there is some evidence that tourists especially are spending rather less per head in this country than they used to. That is no doubt due to the high cost of some of the facilities that they would otherwise enjoy.

The Viscount of Falkland

My Lords, although the increased number of tourists is obviously welcome, does the Minister agree that a further concentration of visitors in the places to which tourists tend to go—the Tower of London, Oxford, and so on—will create difficulties? What steps are being taken to widen our country's appeal to tourists so that they spread more evenly over the United Kingdom?

Lord Trefgarne

My Lords, that is an important function of the tourist authorities, to whom we provided no less than £49 million of support during last year.