§ 10. Mr. Anthony Coombsasked the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on the first six months' operation of the "Great English City Breaks" programme, promoted by the English Tourist Board, in terms of bednights and revenue.
§ Mr. NichollsI understand that since the launch of the "Great English City Breaks" campaign in September 1986 some 26,000 bednights have been sold as a result of the campaign and that the cities involved in the programme estimate that over £1 million of spending by tourists has been generated.
§ 24. Mr. Roger Kingasked the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has made for the growth rate of jobs per year in the tourism sector.
§ 32. Mr. Conwayasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on the trend in the number of employees in the tourist industry.
§ Mr. LeeEmployment in tourism-related industries rose by 149,000 between March 1984 and March 1987, an average increase of 50,000 per year.
§ 26. Mr. Bowisasked the Secretary of State for Employment what action is being taken to alleviate the impact on incoming tourists of passenger delays at Heathrow and other United Kingdom airports.
§ Mr. LeeNeither my Department nor the British Tourist Authority is aware of any major delays being experienced by incoming passengers at Heathrow or other United Kingdom airports this year.
39. Mr. Robert G. Hughesasked the Secretary of State for the Employment if he will make it his policy to publish 148W an annual list showing the most popular tourist attractions in each region, distinguishing between those with (a) paid and (b) free admission.
§ 75. Mr. Devlinasked the Secretary of State for the Employment if he will make it his policy to publish an annual list showing the most popular tourist attractions in each region, distinguishing between those with (a) paid and (b) free admission.
§ 90. Mr. Mansasked the Secretary of State for the Employment if he will make it his policy to publish an annual list showing the most popular tourist attractions in each region, distinguishing between those with (a) paid and (b) free admission.
§ 94. Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for the Employment if he will make it his policy to publish an annual list showing the most popular tourist attractions in each region, distinguishing between those with (a) paid and (b) free admission.
§ Mr. LeeStatistics on the most popular tourist attractions identifying those with free and paid admissions are available in the "English Heritage Monitor", published by the English Tourist Board (ETB) and "Visits to Tourist Attractions", published jointly by the ETB and the British Tourist Authority. Both identify the location of the attractions listed and are published annually.
"Visits to Tourist Attractions" lists attractions, broken down by category, separately for England, Scotland and Wales.
§ 40. Mrs. Maureen Hicksasked the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on progress being made with regard to the programme of introducing a new system of signposting sites of tourist interest.
§ 91. Mr. Patrick McNair-Wilsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has on progress towards introducing a new system of signposting sites of tourist interest.
§ Mr. LeeI refer my hon. Friends to the reply given earlier to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson).
§ 53. Mr. Nealeasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his latest estimate of the significance of tourism for the United Kingdom economy.
§ Mr. LeeTourism is a £15 billion industry which supports significant and growing numbers of jobs and is a major earner of foreign currency. In 1986 tourism spending was equivalent to about 4 per cent. of gross domestic product, and latest figures show that jobs in the hotel, catering and leisure and recreational centres were 46,000 up in the year to March 1987.
§ 54. Mr. Bevanasked the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to the forecasts by the British tourist authority of the number of overseas visitors to Britain in 1987 and as to the estimated expenditure by such tourists.
§ Mr. LeeInformation gathered from the tourism industry by the British Tourist Authority suggests that over 14.5 million visitors will come to Great Britain in 1987, and that expenditure by overseas visitors during the year will be over £6 billion.
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§ 64. Mr. Ian Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Employment what information he has as to how many regional tourist hoards (a) have or (b) propose to set up commercial member groups.
§ Mr. LeeOf the 12 regional tourist boards in England, seven have formed commercial members groups. They are Cumbria, North-West, Yorkshire and Humberside, East Midlands, East Anglia, West Country and South-East. I understand that there are no plans at present to set up similar formal groups in any of the other regional boards, although all the regional boards already have a substantial number of commercial members.
§ 72. Mr. Fearnasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the latest estimate his Department has made of the number of full-time and part-time jobs to be created in the tourist industry.
§ Mr. LeeBetween March 1984 and March 1987, the number of, males and full-time females employed in tourism-related industries rose by 105,000 to 725,000 and the number of part-time female employees rose by 45,000 to 514,000. Separate figures for part-time male employees are not available.