§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Dome tickets have been sold through Lottery terminals. [101513]
§ Janet Anderson[holding answer 7 December 1999]: NMEC is keen to encourage visitors, from all parts of the UK, to the Dome in 2000. Ticket sales and reservations are running ahead of NMEC's expectations and, at over one million, are outstripping advance sales for other worldwide visitor attractions. The company is concerned not to affect the on-going success of ticket sales through publication of selected and piecemeal statistics at this stage. It is competing in the crowded and highly commercial marketplace of visitor attractions and its competitors do not publish detailed statistics of forward sales in the formats that have been requested. However, NMEC has informed the Select Committee for Culture, Media and Sport, on a commercially confidential basis, of progress on ticket sales and will provide, periodically, further progress reports as requested by the Committee. The company will release details in February 2000 of attendance at the Dome during January 2000, and on a monthly basis thereafter.