§ Mrs. Chalkerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how many Government-sponsored foreign visitors were shown the industrial potential of (a) Merseyside (b) Greater Manchester (c) Tyneside and (d) Humberside in 1974, and 1975; and how many visitors are planned for each in 1976;
(2) what action he will take to ensure that more Government-sponsored foreign visitors to the United Kingdom visit Merseyside;
(3) how much money was spent in each of 1974 and 1975 showing the industrial potential of England to Government-sponsored foreign visitors; and how many visitors there were in each year.
750W
§ Mr. EnnalsOne of our main aims in inviting foreign visitors to this country is to show them aspects of British industrial development, and this is given regular high priority in our programmes. The total numbers of foreign visitors sponsored by my Department in 1974 and 1975 were 785 and 635 respectively. The exact amount of money spent on showing these visitors the industrial potential of England cannot easily be determined, but a large proportion of the programmes arranged enabled the visitors to see industrial areas and to assess investment possibilities there.
The numbers of such visitors to the regions listed during the past two years are as follows:
1974 1975 Merseyside … 44 47 Greater Manchester … 54 66 Tyneside … 62 73 Humberside … 12 26 It is expected that the figures for 1976 will follow much the same pattern.
Visits to Merseyside will continue to be included in as many as possible of the programmes which are arranged for our visitors.
Other Government Departments also sponsor tours of the United Kingdom by foreign visitors enabling the latter to see industrial areas.