Hospitality Industry
Debate between Lord Callanan and Baroness Doocey(1 year, 3 months ago)
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Lord Callanan (Con)
The noble Baroness makes an important point. Any business going under is regrettable and a tragedy for all those involved, but we must not exaggerate the problem. Following sharp decline throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, output has now recovered in the hospitality sector. In December 2022, it was about 8.5% above 2019 levels. We are continuing to offer support to the sector with energy bills and business rates relief.
Baroness Doocey (LD)
My Lords, will the Government prioritise the expansion of the youth mobility scheme visa to our European neighbours? This would help enormously with the huge number of vacancies in the tourism sector, and it would also provide opportunities for British businesses in Europe.
Lord Callanan (Con)
As I said in reply to an earlier question, the Home Office keeps visa policies under constant review. Where there are demonstrable shortages of labour in certain sectors, I am sure that the Home Secretary and other Ministers will want to look closely at them.
Travel Agents
Debate between Lord Callanan and Baroness Doocey(3 years, 5 months ago)
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Lord Callanan (Con)
There is of course a Minister for Tourism: Mr Huddleston, in DCMS. He is currently convening a cross-ministerial task force on the travel industry. The noble Lord can look forward to announcements tomorrow on that.
Baroness Doocey (LD)
My Lords, the Government are currently developing a tourism recovery strategy to rebuild the £30 billion of export earnings that inbound tourism generates for the UK. What financial assistance are the Government providing to UK tour operators to enable them to get through this year and next year to deliver the tourism strategy that the Government want?
Lord Callanan (Con)
I outlined the measures that we put in place for individual travel businesses, but bigger operators have been able to access extensive loan and grant schemes. However, I readily accept that it is a very difficult time for businesses in these areas.