HC Deb 10 September 2003 vol 410 cc378-80W
Mr. Moss

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what investment is planned by her Department to help the British tourist industry recover from the effects of the war in Iraq; and what steps the Government proposes to take to boost tourism in the UK in the aftermath of the war. [128573]

Mr. Caborn

This year the Government are providing over £50 million to VisitBritain to encourage people in Britain and abroad to take their holidays here. In addition to on-going promotional work in its 27 overseas offices, VisitBritain is running two major overseas campaigns this year: a £2 million campaign launched in the summer with the industry to encourage US visitors to holiday in Britain, and a £4 million "City Breaks" campaign with the industry in Europe to be launched in the autumn. VisitBritain is also promoting domestic tourism in England and ran its first domestic campaign, 'Enjoy England', in April 2003. A further domestic campaign is planned for the autumn.

Mr. Moss

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what measures the Government is taking to encourage British subjects to spend their holidays in the UK. [128578]

Mr. Caborn

This year the Government are providing VisitBritain with £10.4 million to lead and co-ordinate the domestic marketing of England as a tourist destination. VisitBritain's first domestic campaign, "Enjoy England", was launched in April 2003 and a three-year domestic marketing strategy for England will be published in the autumn. We are providing £3.6 million to England's Regional Development Agencies to fund the English Regional Tourist Boards. We are also providing £3.6 million over two years from the Invest to Save budget to support the EnglandNet project, which will create an on-line tourism network for England.

Mr. Moss

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent by her Department, and the agencies for which she is responsible, to promote tourism in(a) the UK as a whole and (b) each of the UK regions in each year since 1997. [128579]

Mr. Caborn

The British Tourist Authority (BTA) was allocated baseline grant-in-aid by the Department as follows:

Grant to BTA (£ million)
1997–98 35
1998–99 35
1999–2000 36
2000–01 37
2001–02 35.5
2002–03 35.5

In addition, £14.2 million was awarded in 2001–02 and a further £19 million in 2002–03 from the Reserve in

£000
1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03
Cumbria 243 242 222 376 625 449
East of England 493 393 397 597 840 806
Heart of England 467 496 460 652 900 793
London 454 393 355 408 172 26
Northumbria 251 219 254 371 551 447
North West 293 293 292 413 594 575
South East England 321 287 282 363 534 544
Southern 459 479 438 571 734 766
South West Tourism 439 488 476 535 814 663
Yorkshire 506 513 469 563 730 655

In both 2001–02 and 2002–03, this Department provided £1.9 million to the Greater London Authority for tourism. Tourism is a devolved matter and is the responsibility of the respective Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mr. Moss

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has to introduce an individual national tourism body for England. [128571]

Mr. Caborn

The Government have no plans to introduce an individual national tourism body for England. In April 2003 VisitBritain was created, combining the strengths and resources of the English Tourism Council and the British Tourist Authority. VisitBritain has responsibility for the promotion of Britain overseas and England to the domestic market. The England Marketing Advisory Board provides advice on the domestic promotion of England. order to help tourism recover from the impact of the foot and mouth outbreak and the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. BTA did not allocate funds for individual regions of Britain, but promoted Britain as a whole in a way which maximised the impact of its campaigns in individual markets overseas.

The English Tourist Board (ETB), from 1999 the English Tourism Council (ETC), was allocated baseline grant in aid by the Department as follows:

Grant to ETB/ETC (£ million)
1997–98 9.9
1998–99 9.7
1999–2000 11.8
2000–01 11
2001–02 9.6
2002–03 11.6

In addition, £3.8 million was awarded in 2001–02 from the Reserve, over half of which was then passed to the 10 Regional Tourist Boards in England, and a further £1 million from the Reserve in 2002–03. In 2002–03, the English Tourism Council was also awarded £3.6 million over two years from the Invest to Save Budget to support the development of the EnglandNet project to establish an online tourism network for England.

Grant in aid from the ETB/ETC was allocated to the English Regional Tourist Boards as follows: