§ Mr. SpringTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will publish the latest statistics on the numbers of British people taking holidays(a) in the United Kingdom and (b) abroad; and what is his estimate of the current spending difference. [50744]
§ Mr. Tom ClarkeThe British Tourist Authority (BTA) collects statistics on the number of British people taking holidays in the United Kingdom and abroad in its annual British National Travel Survey.
The BTA has published the figures for 1997, the latest year for which information is available, in the April 1998 edition of "Tourism Intelligence Quarterly": these figures show that the British spent £17,220m on holidays abroad of four or more nights, £12,410m more than the £4,810m they spent on holidays of four or more nights in Britain.
Information on short break holidays of less than four nights will be available later in the Summer when the national tourist boards publish their annual United Kingdom Tourism Survey.