Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what new initiatives her Department plans to make to improve the promotion of tourism in English seaside towns.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The UK Government wants to see a growing, dynamic, and sustainable tourism sector reach its full potential and drive growth in every nation and region of the UK, including our seaside towns. Coastal tourism is an important part of the British tourism sector. 10% of all visits to the UK include going to the coast or beaches.
VisitBritain has led a number of multi-million pound marketing campaigns that promote the British coastline and seaside towns, and the Government is taking forward recommendations from the Nick de Bois Review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) with the aim of supporting regional areas, including seaside towns, to better attract and manage tourists. This includes accrediting the highest-performing DMOs throughout 2023 as Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs), and the multi-year government funded tourism pilot in the North East of England.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote British holiday destinations to tourists from the EU.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The government promotes Britain as a holiday destination to tourists from the EU through VisitBritain, the national tourist board. VisitBritain is active in a number of EU countries with in-market teams based in offices in Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and Stockholm.
In February, VisitBritain is launching GREAT’s ‘See Things Differently’ tourism campaign in France, Germany, and Spain with the aim of demonstrating a welcoming, dynamic and diverse story of Britain.
Later this month, VisitBritain is hosting educational trips for international trade buyers across Britain. The delegations include trade buyers from France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, and Spain.
VisitBritian also leads ongoing engagement with the travel trade in Europe, including tour operators and agents, to increase bookable Britain products and promote their sales. This is done via destination training activities such as webinars, and the organisation of sales events in European markets to connect UK tourism businesses with European buyers.
VisitBritain also undertakes year-round engagement with targeted media outlets in EU markets to pitch stories, as well as a year-round programme of blogger/influencers trips to all parts of Britain, aligned to priority messages and themes.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to further support remote rural businesses by increasing the roll-out speed of broadband in rural areas; and what discussions she has had with mobile phone networks on improving their coverage in rural areas.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Government is investing £5 billion through Project Gigabit to deliver lightning-fast, reliable broadband in areas across the UK. We have already launched procurements with a value of over £700 million to bring gigabit connections to rural and hard-to-reach homes and businesses, and we recently signed our first contracts in North Dorset, Teesdale and North Northumberland.
As part of Project Gigabit the government is investing up to £210 million in the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme to support rural businesses and homes with the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections. To date, we have issued over 106,000 vouchers to homes and businesses through the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme and previous iterations. Further information is available on the gigabit voucher website including eligibility criteria and how to apply for the scheme.
We also understand the impact of poor mobile coverage on rural areas which is why we agreed a £1 billion deal with the mobile operators to deliver the Shared Rural Network. The programme will deliver 4G coverage to 95% of the UK, enabling rural businesses and communities to thrive.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what initiatives her Department is planning to promote and encourage domestic tourism in 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Our Tourism Recovery Plan (TRP) sets out an ambition to recover domestic tourism to pre pandemic levels of 99 million overnight trips and spend of £19 billion by the end of 2022. We have been committed to supporting the sector to remain resilient and have already provided £37 billion to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
The TRP also announced plans for a new rail pass which, which we hope to launch this year, to help make it easier and more sustainable for domestic tourists to get around Scotland, England, and Wales.
The Government has delivered a £10 million ‘Days Out’ campaign, in partnership with the British Tourist Authority and National Lottery, which has stimulated demand for more off-season day trips to tourist sites across the UK. The next phase of the campaign (launching 31 January) offers the opportunity to redeem £25 vouchers against February half term visits in the UK, supporting hundreds of attractions across all four nations.
VisitEngland is launching the next phase of its domestic marketing campaign, Escape the Everyday, in February. The campaign will focus on cities as they are impacted by lower numbers of international visitors and it will target a ‘pre-nester’ audience (18-34 year olds), encouraging them to book a short city-break.
2022 also promises a host of unmissable events, including Her Majesty’s Jubilee, with a programme of events over the extended Jubilee Bank holiday; Unboxed, which aims to engage millions of people through in person and digital events; as well as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will drive visitors to the region.
Asked by: Greg Knight (Conservative - East Yorkshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she plans to take to promote and encourage domestic tourism in 2022.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Our Tourism Recovery Plan (TRP) sets out an ambition to recover domestic tourism to pre pandemic levels of 99 million overnight trips and spend of £19 billion by the end of 2022. We have been committed to supporting the sector to remain resilient and have already provided £37 billion to the tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors in the form of grants, loans and tax breaks.
The TRP also announced plans for a new rail pass, which we hope to launch this year, to help make it easier and more sustainable for domestic tourists to get around Scotland, England, and Wales.
The Government has delivered a £10 million ‘Days Out’ campaign, in partnership with the British Tourist Authority and National Lottery, which has stimulated demand for more off-season day trips to tourist sites across the UK. The next phase of the campaign (launching 31 January) offers the opportunity to redeem £25 vouchers against February half term visits in the UK, supporting hundreds of attractions across all four nations.
VisitEngland is launching the next phase of its domestic marketing campaign, Escape the Everyday, in February. The campaign will focus on cities as they are impacted by lower numbers of international visitors and it will target a ‘pre-nester’ audience (18-34 year olds), encouraging them to book a short city-break.
2022 also promises a host of unmissable events, including Her Majesty’s Jubilee, with a programme of events over the extended Jubilee Bank holiday; Unboxed, which aims to engage millions of people through in person and digital events; as well as the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, which will drive visitors to the region.