§ Baroness Ludfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What assistance is being given to tourism in (a) London and (b) nationally, to counter the adverse effects on the industry resulting from (i) the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease and (ii) the events in the United States on Tuesday 11 September and subsequent related events. [HL1262]
§ The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone)In response to the effects of foot-and-mouth on the countryside the Government introduced a package of recovery assistance for rural businesses, including tourism businesses, worth over £300 million. The Government also gave the English Tourism Council an additional £3.8 million to promote tourism in the countryside, and the £74 million Business Recovery Fund, administered by the regional development agencies, included a number of programmes to encourage tourism. Other measures introduced to offer assistance to businesses affected by the foot-and-mouth outbreak include an extension of the Small Firms Loan120WA Guarantee Scheme, the deferral of tax, VAT and national insurance contributions and hardship rate relief.
The British Tourist Authority has been given an additional £14.2 million to promote Britain overseas. Part of this was used at the time of the foot-and-mouth outbreak, and £5 million is now to be used to counter the drop in overseas visitors which has particularly affected London following the terrorist attacks on 11 September. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has also recently agreed to a request from the London Development Agency for £500,000 of DCMS funding which had previously been earmarked for overseas promotion to be used domestically, as this is thought more likely to be successful in attracting visitors to London in the immediate future.