Written question asked by Mike Wood (Conservative) on Friday, 28 August 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 2 September 2026. It was answered by Stephanie Peacock (Labour) on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Tourism: Surveys

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Official Statistics publication, Community and Engagement Survey 2025/26 - domestic tourism: report, published on 14 August 2026, for what reason the Government is collating statistics on the sexual orientation and gender identity of holidaymakers.

Answer: Demographic questions - including questions on gender identity and sexual orientation - are asked to all respondents of the Community and Engagement Survey (CES). Demographic data enables us to identify differences and changes over time in engagement, experiences and attitudes between demographic groups. This is the case for all topics covered by the CES, as is common practice, and is not unique to the domestic tourism sector. Collecting this data also enables us to make sure that responses are representative of the English population (aged 16+), and are not biased towards any demographic group.

Secondary information