§ Sir J. Edenasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he is satisfied that sufficient effort is being made to publicise to visitors from overseas the attractions of areas outside London; and if he will summarise the various efforts that are being made in that direction.
§ Mr. MeacherAt the request of the Government, the statutory tourist boards have increased the publicity and information services provided for tour operators overseas and for foreign visitors in order to promote tourist attractions outside London. BTA will spend about two-thirds of its 1977–78 advertising budget for the benefit of the regions, and in co-operation with national boards a substantial amount of foreign language literature with this aim is provided in BTA's overseas offices and at the main ports of entry. Some local authorities, 97W including the right hon. Member's own council, co-operate with BTA in joint ventures to promote the attractions of their region, and I know that the BTA would welcome extension of this form of co-operative publicity. In considering allocation of their resources I hope that other local authorities will bear it in mind.
1976 1966 1956 1 Liberia United Kingdom* USA 2 Japan USA United Kingdom* 3 United Kingdom Liberia Norway 4 Norway Norway Liberia 5 Greece Japan Italy 6 USSR USSR Japan 7 Panama Greece Netherlands 8 USA Italy France 9 France Federal Republic of Germany Panama 10 Italy France Federal Republic of Germany 11 Federal Republic of Germany Netherlands Sweden 12 Sweden Panama USSR 13 Spain Sweden Denmark 14 Netherlands Denmark Canada 15 Singapore Spain Spain 16 Denmark Canada Greece 17 India India Argentina 18 China, People's Republic of Argentina Brazil 19 Poland Brazil Finland 20 Cyprus Poland Australia * United Kingdom described as Great Britain and Northern Ireland in 1966 and 1956. The source of this information is the relevant annual issue of Statistical Tables of Lloyd's Register of Shipping, copies of which are available in the House of Common's Library.
§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Trade what was the number of vessels and the overall tonnage of the British merchant marine in the years 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1976; and what
United Kingdom USSR Number of vessels Gross registered tonnage Number of vessels Gross registered tonnage 1950 … … … … 6,060 18,219,247 967 2,124,823 1960 … … … … 5,246 21,130,874 1,138, 3,429,472 1970 … … … … 3,822 25,824,820 5,924 14,831,775 1976 … … … … 3,549 32,923,308 7,945 20,667,892 The source of this information is "Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables 1976", a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.