§ Mrs. EllmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1) what was the(a) volume and (b) value of tourism from (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) the Republic of Ireland to the north-west region for each of the last five years for which information is available; [87624]
(2) what was the (a) volume and (b) value of tourism to Britain from (i) Northern Ireland and (ii) the Republic of Ireland for each of the last five years for which figures are available. [87625]
§ Janet AndersonInformation on tourism by residents of Northern Ireland is provided by the annual United Kingdom Tourism Survey, which is designed to monitor domestic tourism within the UK involving one or more nights away from home. The following table shows estimates for the underlying trend in the volume and value of tourism from Northern Ireland to (a) North West Tourist Board area of England and (b) Great Britain as a whole for the 5 most recent years for which data are available.
Tourism (1+ nights) by residents of Northern Ireland To north-west England To Great Britain as a whole Year Number of visitors Expenditure (£ million) Number of visitors Expenditure (£ million) 1994 83,420 18.9 658,800 215.9 1995 104,640 22.2 762,300 181.4 1996 110,240 27.8 635,000 202.9 1997 83,440 25.2 587,840 205.1 1998 79,540 25.9 561,120 215.9 Note:
Figures are 3-year moving averages: eg the 1998 figure shown is the average of the survey results for 1996 to 1998
Source:
UKTS (National Tourist Boards)
Information on tourism trips from the Republic of Ireland to the UK as a whole is published annually in Travel Trends. Totals for 1993 to 1997 are as follows:
Tourism by residents of the Republic of Ireland to the UK Year Number of visits (thousand) Expenditure (£ million) 1993 2,225 460 1994 2,491 545 1995 2,809 620 1996 3,169 705 1997 3,613 764 Source:
Travel Trends (Office for National Statistics)
Currently, no information is available from this source on the volume and value of tourism to specific areas within the UK from the Republic of Ireland. However, from April this year the International Passenger Survey 366W has started to collect information on routes to and from the Republic of Ireland which will lead to more detailed information on the areas of the UK visited becoming available in the year 2000.