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Tourism

rose to ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to ensure that their policies reflect the value of tourism and travel to the British economy. The noble Lord said: My Lords, tourism is one of the UK’s largest industries. Measured by conventional accounting as an industry, it is said to represent some 3.9 per cent of the UK economy, and its value is in the region of £75 billion. It accounts for an estimated 1.4 million jobs in the United Kingdom, which is about 5 per cent of all people in employment. Therefore, it employs more people than are employed in construction or transport. However, using what is called tourism satellite accounting, which has been developed over recent years by the World Travel and Tourism Council, shows that the tourism economy has an even greater role. This includes all aspects of travel and tourism demand, personal and business consumption, capital investment and government spending and exports. On this basis, it represents some £185 billion in income generated and some 2.8 million jobs, or 10 per cent of the UK economy. I know that that percentage will surprise many people who are unaware of the important role that tourism plays in the UK economy. This means that neither the Government nor the industry are fully analysing and communicating the benefits that tourism brings to the United Kingdom. Good information is crucial to making good decisions. Economic tourism information is notoriously hard to come by. Do the Government accept that they now need consistently to adopt tourism satellite accounting in measuring the importance of this sector? Last year a record 27.8 million visitors came to the UK, representing a 12 per cent increase on the previous year. There was also an increase of 1 per cent in visitor numbers to visitor attractions over the previous year. The projects funded by the National Lottery have made a huge difference in the past few years. I want to see this trend in growth continue and for the Government to do all that they can to encourage that growth. There are, however, clouds on the horizon. It has been reported that tourism income is down on original forecasts by some £500 million in London, largely from domestic visitors because of the July terrorist attacks. There is also a large and growing deficit estimated at some £17 billion between expenditure by those going overseas on holiday and those coming here. There are changing patterns in consumption. People do not just take one long holiday a year any more. There are increased short breaks, late bookings are increasingly the norm and international and domestic visitors alike are more demanding. There are some important issues to address. First, there is the issue of promotional structures in the UK. Since the original Tomorrow’s Tourism strategy published in 1999, there have been some welcome developments. Indeed, there are some good elements in the government strategy document for 2004, Tomorrow’s Tourism Today. Devolution for Scotland and Wales and greatly increased funding for Visit Scotland and the Wales Tourist Board from the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly have dramatically increased tourism to those areas, both with an increase in visitor numbers and in spending. Meanwhile, Visit Britain—which was formed in 2003 to promote Britain overseas as a tourism destination and to lead and co-ordinate the domestic marketing of England, and which does some brilliant work, as the interim report of the Tourism Review and Implementation Group demonstrated—has seen its support from the Government remain static for two years and now has the prospect of it being frozen for a further three. If the Government are serious in recognising the importance of tourism to the British economy they should budget for a real increase in marketing and promotional investment. The Government also need to learn lessons from Scotland and Wales. Regrettably, there is no Visit England body. There is only a Marketing Advisory Board for England. Regional development agencies and the Mayor of London, through Visit London, are meant to take the strategic lead on tourism policy in England. Some of them have retained for set up regional tourist boards, as the TRIG report makes clear. But without a central body specifically for England, it is crucial that these RDAs improve their co-ordination in relation to tourism policy in order to ensure success, both with other RDAs and with their local partners, and that they treat tourism as a priority. What are the Government doing to assist in that respect? A key part of the national tourism strategy must be to attract visitors from new markets. Eighty-four per cent of visitors coming to Britain are from the original EU 15 plus Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. But future growth potential is expected to come from markets such as India, China, south-east Asia, Russia and Eastern Europe. Visitors from China to the UK, for example, doubled between 1999 and 2004 and expenditure more than trebled the 1999 expenditure figure. There are currently some 28 million Chinese who travel internationally and these numbers are expected to grow to over 100 million in the next decade or so now that Britain has approved destination status. It must be our priority to develop these emerging markets and I very much welcome the launch of the Britain Welcomes China initiative earlier this year. I also welcome the fact that Visit Britain’s focus on international marketing efforts has accordingly been shifted to these emerging and growth markets. However, support from the Government and Parliament is crucial to ensure the success of that strategy. What measures of support are the Government proposing? If they are serious about recognising the importance of tourism to the British economy, they should be budgeting for more pan-Britain funding for overseas tourism promotion, especially in those new and emerging markets. Due to the shortness of time I shall, sadly not be able to go into great detail on the issues of quality, value for money, welcome and skills, but visitors to the UK should know what to expect when they book a rated hotel, regardless of what scheme it is in or in what region it is located. I welcome moves towards a single scheme, but participation in a grading scheme still appears inadequate. The Government should clearly lead by example and ensure that official bookings are made only with assessed accommodation. I should like to hear from the Minister what moves are being made in that respect. On the issue of regulation, industry and many of the trade bodies are actively engaged, both at EU and UK level, in putting their case for measured deregulation. I welcome the initiative of James Purnell, the Minister, at the fourth annual European tourism forum, in announcing that a DCMS better regulation panel will look at tourism first. We have had conferences during the UK presidency of the EU on this subject, and both Mr Barroso—himself a former tourism Minister—and vice-president Verheugen have made a point of emphasising the need for deregulation. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The deregulation task force under the last Conservative government and this Government’s Better Regulation Task Force have laboured mightily in the vineyard, but what specifically have they come up with of benefit to the tourism industry? Will we have to wait for a better regulation Bill to become law before any legislation can be changed? If so, what does the Minister anticipate the timetable to be? We particularly need deregulation and a common platform as it affects e-business and the tourism industry. The Minister, James Purnell, has placed great emphasis on EnglandNet developed by VisitBritain, which is intending to create a ““virtual high street”” of Britain’s tourism products on line. We very much welcome the emphasis being given to that. On the issue of visas, given that tourism is so vital to the British economy, why have the Government allowed the cost of tourist visas to increase dramatically this year, with a typical tourist visa to the UK costing up to £65, compared to about £27 to visit all the 15 European countries operating under the Schengen agreement. I am surprised and greatly concerned that such a disincentive should be allowed to hinder UK tourism. That is a classic example of a lack of joined-up government, with the DCMS not being consulted by the Home Office on that matter. Finally, on the Olympics, the tourism potential for the 2012 Olympics is enormous. The games should prove a long-term boost to business tourism in particular, as winning the bid demonstrates that the UK is well placed to host major events, exhibitions and trade fairs as well as conventions and conferences. The London Olympics genuinely represents the opportunity of a generation, but we need to learn from the experiences of Sydney and Athens. The hoped-for benefits for London and the UK are by no means a given. What are the Government doing to ensure that the required leadership resources and preplanning are in place to create the Olympics legacy for tourism? The strategic key to secure that legacy must be full alignment and good channels of communication between the London organising committee and all those bodies involved in tourism delivery and promotion. They must also receive sufficient funding to be up to the task. I have not even touched upon the issue of sustainable tourism, the future of aviation, greenhouse gas emissions, the needs of the disabled in tourism and many other matters of great importance to the tourism industry. Until recently, Britain ranked sixth in the international tourism earnings league; now it has slipped to seventh. I want to see the UK move up from that ranking, but to do that we need to tackle some of the issues that I have raised. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say.