§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Wales what financial assistance has been provided to support the development of tourism in Wales in each financial year since 1979; and what were the sources of such assistance.
§ Mr. John Stradling ThomasSupport for the tourism industry comes from many sources. The Wales tourist board has spent the following amounts since 1979–80. The figures in brackets are the amounts spent on assisting specific projects under section 4 of the Development of Tourism Act 1969:
£000s (£000s) 1979–80 3,652 (1,696) 1980–81 4,316 (1,696) 1981–82 5,077 (1,911) 1982–83 5,562 (1,515) 1983–84 5,032 (1,209) 1984–85 6,365 (1,800) For 1985–86 the board has been allocated £7.196 million of which £2 million is for section 4 support. Many projects that are supported by urban development grant while not specifically for tourism have incidental tourism benefits. It is not possible readily to identify the proportions of the total assistance that relates to tourism. Some local authorities have received support for their tourism schemes under the urban programme. The following commitments on such schemes have been given since 1979–80:
£000s 1979–80 138 1980–81 144 1981–82 62 1982–83 465 1983–84 412 1984–85 63 Tourism and recreational projects can also receive assistance from the European regional development fund. Since 1979–80, the following amounts have been committed for such projects:
£000s 1979–80 1,835 1980–81 1,075 1981–82 2,927 1982–83 1,067 1983–84 2,998 1984–85 1,774 Both the Welsh Development Agency and the Development Board for Rural Wales contribute to the development of tourism but it is not possible to identify within their budgets the amounts involved.
Details of local authority spend on tourism can be found in Summary Table 'B' of the CIPFA Leisure and Recreation Statistics for the period 1979–80 to 1984–85; copies of which are in the Library.