§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total cost to her Department of the trips made by the Minister and officials to(a) Antwerp on 24 June and (b) Athens on 25 to 28 June. [9432]
§ Mr. Nigel Griffiths[holding answer 18 July 1997]: Before 1 May, a decision for officials to attend the International Travel Services Association Antwerp conference was taken. The total cost to the Department of the visit to Antwerp was £37,038.00. The DTI provided two stands at the ITSA conference which were staffed by a total of five officials; three other officials attended the conference as full delegates; I was accompanied by my private secretary. The total cost to the Department of the visit to the UK industry travel and tour conference in Athens was £3,238.00. I undertook a number of official engagements, meeting 20 UK exporters to Greece; and meetings with Greek Ministers.