HC Deb 01 March 1991 vol 186 cc649-50W
Mr. Simon Coombs

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the tourism industry in Scotland.

Mr. Allan Stewart

Tourism makes an important contribution to the Scottish economy. The Scottish tourist board estimates that visitor spending in Scotland in 1989 (the latest full year for which figures are available) was £1,773 million, of which £388 million represented expenditure by overseas visitors. There are estimated to be

Total confirmed redundancies in Scotland 1978–79 to 1990–91
Financial years April-June July-September October-December January-March Total
1978–79 6,180 5,691 4,272 7,040 23,183
1979–80 6,241 8,088 13,018 13,655 41,012
1980–81 13,686 17,670 15,805 14,489 61,650
1981–82 17,640 11,941 14,969 13,070 57,620
1982–83 10,876 13,240 11,758 10,955 46,829
1983–84 10,160 11,975 8,448 7,763 38,346
1984–85 10,031 7,715 4,655 7,009 29,410
1985–86 7,674 5,229 6,512 7,068 26,483
1986–87 9,216 8,337 7,337 6,218 31,108
1987–88 6,523 4,838 5,254 3,158 19,773
1988–89 2,982 4,412 3,759 5,578 16,731
1989–90 3,605 7,234 3,978 25,174 19,991
1990–91 24,010 22,210 23,209 N.A. —

Notes:

1 Figures from January 1981 are not directly comparable with earlier months because of improvements in the collection of the data.

2 1990 figures are provisional.

140,000 to 150,000 jobs in tourism and leisure-related industries. This represents about 7 per cent. of Scottish employment.