§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Paymaster General (1) if any contribution is being made by the airlines to the £1 million which the British tourist industry proposes to spend in the United States of America to halt the decline in the number of United States visitors to the United Kingdom;
(2) if any contribution is being made by the largest of three hotel operators in London to the £1 million being 422W spent by the British Tourist Authority in the United States of America to halt the decline in the number of American tourists to the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. TrippierThe British Tourist Authority is devoting $400,000 to this campaign and aims to raise a further $800,000 from the trade. It is currently negotiating with prospective partners and it is very much hoped that the major airlines and hotel operators, as well as others, will contribute but nothing has yet been finalised.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Paymaster General what is the Government's contribution to tourism this year; what was the comparable sum in 1973–74; and if he will break down the expenditure by end use.
§ Mr. TrippierThe following table shows the estimated provision by my Department for the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourist Board in the current financial year together with the equivalent figures for 1973–74:
1986–87 1973–74 £000's £000's BTA Grant-in-aid 20,370 5,600 ETB Grant-in-aid 10,369 1,750 Assistance to tourist projects under Section 4 of the Development of Tourist Act 1969 9,400 570 40,139 7,920 In 1973–74 an additional sum of £20.8 million was paid in grants and loans to eligible applicants in England under the hotel developments incentive scheme. This scheme provided non-discretionary grants for hotel developments which met certain conditions of eligibility. Developments had to start before 1 April 1971 and be completed before 1 April 1973 and this resulted in an exceptionally high level of payments in 1973–74.