Tourism (Hansard, 18 October 2001)

§ Mr. Hoyle
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding she makes available to local authorities to establish tourism officers. [8439]

§ Dr. Howells
Funding is allowed for tourism as part of the Environmental Protective and Cultural Services block of the Rate Support Grant and it is up to individual local authorities to allocate their funds in accordance with statutory requirements and local needs and priorities. We are keen that local authorities both recognise the true significance of tourism to their local economies and community well-being and also ensure that they have Ifpsufficient data to make informed decisions about allocating their resources, whether in relation to provision of tourism infrastructure, services, personnel or marketing.
1289W

§ Mrs. Helen Clark
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to promote rural tourism. [4688]

§ Dr. Howells
At the regional, national and international level, new tourist websites and visitor hotlines have provided exposure and a clear picture of what rural Britain can offer. Leaflet information has also been used successfully. Much of the £18 million in additional funding provided by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to the British Tourist Authority (BTA) and English Tourism Council (ETC) has been used in a strategic advertising and marketing campaigns to motivate potential customers and provide information on what is available. Furthermore, DCMS Ministers attended a number of high profile domestic events to increase rural tourism's exposure and encourage visitors.

§ Mr. Drew
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she intends to make tourist boards co-terminous with regional areas. [8548]

§ Dr. Howells
It is not within Government's powers to direct the Regional Tourist Boards (RTBs) on this issue as they are not public bodies—almost all are private companies limited by guarantee. While they do receive some public funding from this Department (via the English Tourism Council), they are funded primarily by their members and from their commercial activities. Thus they need valid commercial reasons to choose to change their boundaries to be in line with other regional partners. In principle we would like to see all RTBs having the same boundaries as the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) and closer alignment is happening in many regions, although in some cases two RTBs share one RDA area or vice versa.

§ John Thurso
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her answer of 17 July 2001,Official Report, column 151W, on tourism, which representatives of the (a) Scotland Office, (b) Scottish Executive and (c) Scottish Tourist Board attended the United Kingdom summit on tourism on 6 March. [R] [7100]

§ Dr. Howells
Alasdair Morrison MSP, Deputy Minister for Enterprise and Lifelong Learning and Gaelic in the Scottish Executive, who attended in March 2000, was invited to the second annual Tourism Summit 6 March 2001, but was unable to attend due to prior commitments on that date. A draft report of the Summit was circulated to Ministers for clearance, including Alasdair Morrison, prior to its publication on the DCMS website (www.culture.gov.uk).