§ Mr. Tony BanksTo ask the Minister for the Arts if he will make a statement on the contribution made by the arts to tourism in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. RentonThe United Kingdom as a tourist venue is a centre of cultural and artistic excellence; and, as year round activities, both the performing arts and heritage venues are major attractions to tourists, whether from within the United Kingdom or from abroad. Attendances at London's west end theatres reached a record high in 1990 at 11.3 million, and remained at around 11 million in 1991. The latest visitor figures for museums and art galleries show that there were 74 million such visits in 1990 throughout the United Kingdom.