§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will publish in theOfficial Report (a) the number of visits to Great Britain from western Europe, (b) the number of visits from western Europe to Great Britain, giving details of (i) the number of business and tourist trips, (ii) the average number of nights' stay and (iii) average expenditure at current and constant 1988 prices for each year from 1978 to 1988 inclusive.
§ Mr. LeeThe available information relates to visits to and from the United Kingdom and is given in the following tables. Suitable price indices for the calculation of expenditure at constant prices are not available.
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Table 2 Visits to Western Europe1 by residents of the United Kingdom Number of visits (thousands) Average number of nights' stay Average expenditure per visit at current prices (£) All tourists of which: business All tourists Business tourists All tourists Business tourists 1978 11,517 1,802 10.2 5.4 99.4 107.3 1979 12,959 2,037 10.3 5.9 116.0 122.4 1980 14,455 2,158 10.1 5.6 131.6 137.7 1981 15,862 2,147 10.4 5.3 140.2 151.9 1982 17,625 2,190 9.8 5.3 146.5 165.8 1983 18,229 2,328 9.9 4.9 163.6 187.0 1984 19,371 2,533 10.2 5.0 178.3 202.2 1985 18,944 2,566 10.2 5.1 191.6 237.1 1986 21,877 2,596 10.4 5.2 209.3 242.8 1987 23,678 2,898 10.4 5.3 227.1 266.4 1988 24,519 3,187 10.5 5.1 239.6 263.1 1 European Community plus Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Yugoslavia.