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Tourism (Northern Ireland)

I am pleased to follow the hon. Member for Blaydon (Mr. Anderson), who has done as good a job as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has done—it will probably offer him some commission for the adverts that he has given us today. I noted what he said about the people of Northern Ireland—but I have to say that if his dad had started singing republican songs in the village legion in Portstewart, he might have had to revise his opinion somewhat. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry (Mr. Campbell) on securing this important debate. As has been mentioned, the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee will investigate tourism and we intend to spend some time sampling some of the tourist delights. It will be hard work, of course, and certainly not a junket or a holiday. We will discover some of the things that the hon. Member for Blaydon mentioned. I want to reinforce the final point that the hon. Gentleman made. If tourism is to be developed in Northern Ireland, it is essential that we put the past of terrorism and criminality behind us. The Government and everyone in the Chamber have an important part to play in pushing those who are reluctant, and still look over their shoulders at their past and want to keep some connections with that past, towards democratic behaviour. Tourism in Northern Ireland has the potential to achieve one of the objectives that the Secretary of State has rightly said is important if the economy of Northern Ireland is to develop. It will help to move Northern Ireland from public sector dependence to a greater emphasis on the private sector. It is significant that tourism is now the fourth largest private sector employer in Northern Ireland, and it has great potential if we use the tools we have at our disposal to help it to grow even more. The magnet for tourism, of course, is the city of Belfast. Nearly 70 per cent. of those who come to Northern Ireland come through Belfast and stay there at some stage. We have to recognise that if that isthe magnet, attention should be paid to that part of the market. However, I represent a constituency on the edge of Belfast that opens up a different dimension, away from weekend city breaks—towards the natural heritage of Northern Ireland along the Antrim coast and the glens, the built heritage of Carrickfergus with its historic castle, walls and churches and the associated pageants, or the natural heritage, coastline and wildlife and opportunities for bird watching, walking and so on presented by the Antrim glens. My hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry pointed out that there is an east-west dimension to tourism. The town of Larne, which I represent, presents the gateway to the western coast of Scotland, through which nearly 600,000 people come every year to Northern Ireland as tourists. That is an important link that needs to be developed. It is significant that the strategic transport plan published recently by the Scottish Parliament does not even mention that gateway and that link. That is one of the reasons why we must emphasise the importance and potential—not only for us but for Scotland and the north-west of England—of that gateway and the way in which it can help develop tourism in both parts of the United Kingdom. However, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed, and the first is promotion. Two thirds of the budget spent on promoting tourism goes to Tourism Ireland, which promotes the island as a whole but does not specifically promote Northern Ireland. I have no doubt that there is a need to promote both Northern Ireland and southern Ireland on the international stage and I also accept that many people who come to southern Ireland will eventually come to Northern Ireland. The flaw is that with no specific reference to Northern Ireland in much of the promotional material, on which two thirds of the budget is spent, a huge gap is left. It is significant that if there is to be any specific reference to Northern Ireland in the promotional material, extra money has to be paid. We have not sufficiently grasped that. The Northern Ireland Tourist Board does its own promotion of Northern Ireland, of course. On top of that, local councils do some promotion. That creates a difficulty, which I find in my constituency with people who have bed and breakfasts, for example, or hotels. Much of the private sector is at the small business end of the economy. Those people do not know who to go to. Which agency should they focus on to promote their product? Should they go to Tourism Ireland, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board or their local council? At what level should they pitch and promote their particular facilities? That needs some attention. Of course we need an overall strategy, and I believe that that is best done by the big agencies that operate on a world-wide platform. Once that platform has been created, we must look at ways of outsourcing it so that it is friendly to particular areas in Northern Ireland. The review of public administration and the creation of larger councils offer an opportunity to do that, and I see no reason, other than perhaps job insecurity, why the Northern Ireland Tourist Board should not outsource the promotion of what is available locally to the larger local authorities. That at least would provide a local connection between the small businesses involved in tourism and the local agencies, which are better placed to know what is available. As my hon. Friend the Member for East Londonderry pointed out, because much of the development and growth of tourism takes place in rural areas, it can be environmentally sensitive. That tends to create difficulties in applying for planning permission. In the last three weeks there have been instances of such difficulties in my constituency. For example, an individual who sells fishing licences—fishing is a big tourism sector in Northern Ireland—operates in a small village off the main road, but bureaucracy in the Roads Service prevents him from putting up a sign pointing to where people may get a fishing licence so that they can enjoy that aspect of tourism. For the same reason, bed and breakfasts off the main road are also prevented from highlighting their location. We have to be sensitive to that. There might be regulations, and we do not want road sides cluttered with a host of signs, but if we are to promote tourism, agencies such as the Roads Service in Northern Ireland need to be more sensitive to the need to promote businesses in that way. Then we come to planning. Only last week, I spoke to someone who had diversified from farming into holiday cottages, had turned three of the farm outhouses into holiday cottages and was booked up throughout the year—even in the winter. That person wanted to add another cottage, but because of the area in which it would have been placed, even though it was within the curtilage of the farmyard, they were having to fight the planners. Again, the authorities were applying the planning rules too rigidly rather than considering the potential for further diversification in the countryside, and the further promotion of alternative sources of employment now that farming is in decline, especially in some of the hill areas. A major project involving a disused quarry just outside the town of Larne in my constituency is fighting for planning permission. A company plans to build a cycle track of international standing and provide various ancillary and associated activities that could attract thousands of people to the area, but already there are planning difficulties. We need more sensitive planning policies if we are to develop tourism, as well as proper training, especially in the hospitality sector. Without that proper training, we will drive tourists away. Those are some of the issues that need to be addressed. Tourism is an important sector of the economy and it must be allowed to grow. I hope that the Minister will pay attention to some of the points made here today.