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Written question asked by Rachael Maskell (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 July 2022, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 July 2022. It was answered by Nigel Huddleston (Conservative) on Friday, 15 July 2022 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Countryside: Access

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of trends in the levels of youth hostels in rural areas on young peoples' access to the natural environment.

Answer

The Youth Hostel Association (YHA) helped to fund the Green Recovery Challenge Fund (GRCF), which was a multi-partner consortium project aiming to connect young people to nature. Generation Green, was a project funded by the GRCF, capitalised on the combined reach of the coalition partners of more than two million young people. It has provided more than 100,000 progressive opportunities throughout the project to connect young people to nature. Some of the partners include The Scout Association, The Guide Association, Outward Bound Trust, Field Studies Council and the National Park Authorities. The project prioritised young people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups, disadvantaged backgrounds and coastal communities.

According to this report from VisitBritain 10% of all domestic overnight stays in England in 2019 were accommodated in caravans or camping sites. This increases to 20% when only considering domestic overnight holidays (excluding business travel or visiting friends and relatives) - this equated to 9.3m trips in 2019.

The Tourism Recovery Plan (TRP), published in June 2021, sets out how we will assist and accelerate the tourism sector’s recovery from COVID-19. The TRP sets out ambitious and stretching targets to recover inbound visitor numbers and spend, and recover domestic overnight trip volume and spend to 2019 levels, at least a year faster than independent forecasts predict.

VisitBritain and VisitEngland’s latest international and domestic campaigns aim to drive demand back to Britain and encourage people to holiday at home. These messages will benefit the whole visitor economy, including rural tourism, in every region.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
31157
Session
2022-23
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Access Countryside Hostels Young people
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk