HC Deb 21 March 2000 vol 346 cc497-8W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans he has to promote tourism in North Yorkshire. [114945]

Janet Anderson

The Yorkshire Tourist Board (YTB) will receive £367,000 for tourism projects in the region in 2000–01 from the English Tourism Council—an increase of 26 per cent. on the current year. These projects include development of the Yorkshire brand and sub-regional brands and developing training that is customised to meet customer needs, which will help promote tourism throughout Yorkshire. North Yorkshire, in common with all parts of England, also benefits from the promotion work of the British Tourist Authority (BTA), which promotes Britain as a visitor destination in overseas markets. The BTA is receiving £36 million from my Department this year.

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy estimates that local authority expenditure on tourism promotion in North Yorkshire in 1997–98 was £1.775 million. In addition, tourism in Yorkshire has also benefited, both directly and indirectly, from the National Lottery, (649 projects in the country have received awards totalling £44,710,497 according to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's National Lottery Awards Database which uses information supplied by the distributing bodies.