§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage by what percentage(a) rail fares, bus and coach fares, (b) non-food prices generally and (c) foreign holidays have changed since 13 January 1987; and what assessment he has made of the effect of relative price changes on employment and output in the United Kingdom tourist industry.
§ Mr. KeyThe information on retail prices is published in the RPI "Business Monitor", in table 2, which is available in the Library. The Department has made no formal assessment of the effects of changes in public transport fares on tourism within the United Kingdom, but according to the United Kingdom tourism survey, the proportion of domestic tourism trips on one night or more that used train, bus or coach as their main mode of transport has been the same in each of the years 1989, 1990 and 1991, at 19 per cent. Between December 1986 and December 1992, the number of employees in employment in tourism-related industries rose by 19 per cent. The foreign holiday component of the retail prices index has only been in existence since January this year and so it is too early to assess any relationship between the price of foreign holidays and tourism employment and expenditure in the United Kingdom.
127W