(North East Derbyshire) (Con)
3. What steps her Department is taking to support the tourism
industry throughout the UK. [900202]
(Fylde) (Con)
11. What steps her Department is taking to support the tourism
industry throughout the UK. [900210]
(Windsor) (Con)
14. What steps her Department is taking to support the tourism
industry throughout the UK. [900213]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Digital, Culture,
Media and Sport ()
Tourism contributes £60 billion to the UK economy each year and
my Department is committed to encouraging visitors from across
the world to visit the whole United Kingdom. Our strong and
growing tourism industry is good news for the economy and local
communities, supporting small businesses and jobs up and down our
country. The tourism sector deal will help to solve some of the
industry’s challenges and establish tourism zones in areas with
great tourism ambitions. The £45 million Discover England fund
encourages visitors to travel beyond London, contributing to
levelling up across the country.
I thank the Minister for her response. As she will know, in
constituencies such as mine, the tourist industry is heavily
based on our industrial heritage and history. The Chesterfield
Canal Trust is midway through a restoration to celebrate its
250th anniversary in 2027; it is restoring the final nine miles
of the canal. May I invite my hon. Friend to visit the
Chesterfield canal to see the fantastic tourist offer in North
East Derbyshire?
I know that my hon. Friend has been working hard and lobbying a
range of Ministers to support the regeneration of the
Chesterfield canal—rightly so, as it is a fabulously ambitious
project to restore that historic and beautiful waterway in time
for its 250th anniversary. I would be delighted to visit to find
out more.
As you are well aware, Mr Speaker, Fylde is at the heart of the
Lancashire riviera, with fabulous beaches and world-class golf
courses. With inadequate transport infrastructure, however,
people struggle to access it. What representation is the Minister
making in Government to ensure that people can visit our seaside
gems?
My hon. Friend is correct that our wonderful coastline, including
in his constituency, is one of the great things that our country
has to offer visitors. We are supporting coastal tourism,
including with the £45 Discover England fund. The Government have
also invested £229 million in the Coastal Communities
fund—including in his area—and there is the English coast path. I
completely agree, however, that we could and should be doing more
to support our seaside attractions. I would be delighted to meet
him to discuss his constituency’s infrastructure requirements and
to arrange a meeting with the Secretary of State for Transport to
lobby on his behalf.
Putting rivieras to one side, the Windsor constituency enjoys 7
million visitors a year and I would say it is one of the most
attractive constituencies in the entire country. Yes, we are
known for military and monarchy, but we also have two race
courses—Ascot and Windsor—and two barracks, with regular parades
in Windsor town centre. We have magnificent buildings such as
Windsor castle and Windsor Great Park, as well as Legoland, which
all our children enjoy. Does the Minister agree that investment
in public transport and links to places outside London would make
a huge difference when we are drawing tourists into parts of the
country that are not the capital?
My hon. Friend is an excellent advocate for his constituency and
all its wonderful places to visit, including Legoland, which is
popular with my children. I completely agree that visitors to the
UK must be able to get to destinations outside London by public
transport. I welcome our Government’s commitment to investment in
public transport. I want to make that travel as easy as possible
for tourists. I would be happy to talk further with my hon.
Friend if he has any specific suggestions to help visitors get to
his constituency.
(Halton)
(Lab)
Many of our northern towns have great tourist attractions, such
as Norton priory in Runcorn and the Catalyst Science Discovery
Centre in Widnes. What is the Minister doing to ensure there is
more focus on getting tourism into our northern towns, not just
concentrating on cities?
I completely agree with the hon. Member. I am very keen as a
Minister to ensure that visitors to the UK go beyond London and
the great cities, important though those are, and get to the
towns and further afield. That is one of the things that the £45
million Discover England fund supports, including with bookable
packages to enable international visitors to come and travel
further afield. I want that to go further in the months ahead.
(Edinburgh West)
(LD)
I do not need to tell everyone in this place how beautiful
Edinburgh is and how important it is to the tourism industry in
this country generally. However, with our departure from the
European Union, it will face a problem, not just day-to-day in
the hospitality industry but every August with the festival;
there is the issue of visas for foreign nationals coming from
other EU countries. What will the Government do to ensure that
important events, such as the Edinburgh International Festival,
are not damaged by Brexit?
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. As she will know, once we
have left the EU with the withdrawal agreement on 31 January,
visitor arrangements will not change. The arrangements for the
future, however, will be subject to the relationship negotiations
with the European Union. We are shifting to an immigration system
that will deliver on the needs of the United Kingdom, rather than
being dependant on where people come from. We will continue to
engage with the tourism sector and the creative industries to
ensure that the system works as they need it to.
(Clwyd West) (Con)
My hon. Friend will know that north Wales is one of the
pre-eminent tourist destinations in the country, with over 30
million visits per annum. Increasingly, the area is specialising
in adventure tourism, with such attractions as Plas Menai and the
world’s only inland surfing lagoon. Is she willing to meet me and
representatives of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board to
discuss the possibility of creating an adventure tourism zone in
north Wales?
That sounds very exciting, particularly the inland surfing
lagoon. I am not sure whether my right hon. Friend is asking me
to visit the destination itself, but I would be delighted to meet
him and colleagues to discuss the opportunities.
