§ Mr. Hirstasked the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will change the presentation of classes of employment in the Employment Gazette in order to show the number of people employed in tourism;
(2) if he will collect and publish accurate statistics on an annual basis, showing the number of people employed in the tourism industry in England.
§ Mr. Alan ClarkEstimates of the numbers of employees working in the industries which are most clearly related to tourism in Great Britain were given in the article on "Overseas travel and tourism" published inBritish Business on 9 November 1984 and will be updated quarterly. The figures are also regularly published in Employment Gazette and relate to total employment in the hotel and catering trades; in libraries, museums, art galleries and so on; and in sports and other recreational services. There are also many other industries which serve tourists, such as retail distribution, transport, banking and so on. Few of these industries are wholly devoted to tourism. It is not possible to distinguish that part of employment in these industries which is generated by tourism from other employment because businesses do not keep detailed records of the type of their customers. Nor would it be feasible to collect on a regular basis from tourists a detailed breakdown of their expenditure in these industries. It is therefore not possible to collect and publish accurate statistics of employment in tourism on an annual basis. However, the most reliable indication of trends is provided by the statistics now published in British Business which shows quarterly employment in the industries most heavily dependent on tourism.
Separate figures for England for the industries which are most clearly related to tourism are available only when the detailed census of employment is carried out. Figures for September 1981 were published in the supplement to the December 1983 issue of Employment Gazette. figures for September 1984 will be published in due course.