§ Mr. ElletsonTo ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on her forthcoming visit to the United States of America. [38421]
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyI shall visit Atlanta, Washington, New York and Los Angeles from 18 to 26 July. I am going to Atlanta to support the British team in the 1996 Olympics and to represent the Government at the opening ceremony. I intend to emphasise to the key sporting figures and bodies the Government's overall commitment to sport and our readiness to be actively involved in attracting major sporting events to the UK.
The rest of my visit will be devoted primarily to promoting UK competitiveness and encouraging inward investment, particularly in the film and tourism sectors. I shall give the Government's support to the efforts being made by the industries themselves to increase the UK exports of television programmes to the US, to attract US moviemakers to make use of the abundance of talent, expertise and facilities available to them in Britain, and to encourage more American tourists to come to Britain.