Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, in relation to the Government’s response to the independent review of Destination Management Organisations, what criteria will be used to select which region will be funded to pilot a tiering model for DMOs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Government will choose a region based on the following criteria, which were published in the government response to the independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs):
DMOs in the region will have accredited national portfolio status;
the region has a DMO landscape that lacks structures and has gaps in coverage;
the region geographically offers coastal, urban and natural environments;
the region is able to demonstrate a growing business and events offer;
the region is able to demonstrate strong potential to support Levelling Up, through alignment with existing or planned Devolution Deals;
the region is able to demonstrate close working across DMOs, local authorities and the private sector;
the region is able to demonstrate evidence of visitor economy growth potential, this includes opportunities for improvement in tourism products such as attractions and transport links;
the region is able to demonstrate product development opportunities; and
the region is able to demonstrate potential to grow visitor numbers and spend.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Government’s response to the independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), when the Government plans to launch a regional pilot of a tiering model for DMOs.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
In its response to the independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), the government has committed to pilot the proposed tiering model and the recommendation of multi-year core funding in a region of England.
The Government is currently working with VisitEngland to assess regions of England for the pilot based on the published criteria in its response to the DMO Review. The Government is aiming to announce the pilot area and launch the pilot this year.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to publish the Creative Industries Sector Vision.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
As noted in the Growth Plan 2022, the UK has world leading creative industries, and one of the UK’s structural economic strengths is the soft power that derives from our cultural exports. The Creative Industries Sector Vision will set out our ambition to stimulate the growth of creative businesses across the UK through to 2030. We will publish it in due course.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester Withington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when her Department plans to respond to the Independent Review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs), published in August 2021.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) have the power to drive investment for new visitor attractions, bring in more visitors from around the world, and boost the local visitor economy.
For DMOs to reach their full potential, however, we need to address long-running concerns about the structure, funding and fragmentation of England’s DMO landscape. This is why I asked Nick de Bois (Chair of VisitEngland’s Advisory Board) to conduct a detailed review of England’s DMO landscape last year.
Mr de Bois’ independent review of Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) review was published in September 2021. We aim to publish the official Government response to the review before the house rises for summer recess.