§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
On what date they first reached agreement with Nomura that the Millennium Dome would be sold to Dome Europe, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura. [HL3869]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonDome Europe were informed of the Government's decision to select them as preferred bidder on 26th July, the day before the announcement was made to Parliament.
§ Lord Astor of Heverasked Her Majesty's Government:
By how much visitor targets must be increased in order to recoup the costs to the Millennium Dome of the lower admission prices paid by the customers of sponsors that have been allowed by the New Millennium Experience Company to offer discounted ticket schemes throughout the year 2000. [HL3871]
§ Lord Falconer of ThorotonThe New Millennium Experience Company (NMEC) has already implemented, or is in the process of implementing, time-limited promotion offers with three of the Dome's sponsors. Under the terms of these sponsor ticket promotions, NMEC forecast that over 1 million people will benefit. The company has calculated that, on the basis of ticket yield of offers made, against the ticket yield under the non-discounted pricing structure, approximately 190,000 visitors would be needed to deliver the level of revenue which theoretically would have been achieved had the sponsor promotion not been in place. Discounted ticket promotions of this kind, which are an integral and normal part of the visitor attraction industry, provide an opportunity for NMEC to enhance its own marketing and sales efforts, enabling the company to reach a great many families across the UK. The promotion also enables a number of people to visit and enjoy the Millennium Experience who might not have had an opportunity to do so otherwise.