§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the change since the second half of 1973 in the real exchange rate relative to that of the EC Six; what has been the effect of this on the prosperity of the south coast resorts; and if he will publish a table showing for each year since 1970 (i) imports of tourism from and exports to the EC Six in terms of 1993 prices and (ii) the net effect on output and employment in the United Kingdom tourist industry.
§ Mr. NelsonSterling's exchange rate against the currencies of the six original members of the Community can be found in the monthly Central Statistical Office's "Financial Statistics" publication. Price data for these countries can be found in the monthly Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development "Main Economic Indicators" publication. Together, these data can be used to calculate the change in the real exchange rate since 1973.
20WThe real exchange rate is only one factor affecting prosperity of the south coast resorts and output and employment in the United Kingdom tourist industry as a whole. It is impossible to isolate the effect of changes in the real exchange rate from that of other factors, such as activity in the tourist industries of other regions and countries. Data on the number of tourists and their related expenditure in current prices from and to the six countries are available in the "Business Monitor MQ6", published by the CSO. The yearly CSO "United Kingdom Balance of Payments" publication contains a service industry deflator which can be used to convert to 1993 prices.