Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department's press release entitled New ambition for 50 million annual visits to UK announced by Tourism Minister, published on 27 November 2024, what steps she plans to take to meet this target.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The new Visitor Economy Advisory Council will work closely with industry and government to develop a national strategy for growth in the sector to achieve this target. We believe it is important to set this ambitious target, because although the UK attracted 41 million visitors in 2019, it only managed 38 million last year under the previous government. We are clear that growth in the tourism industry beyond London will be at the heart of this strategy, and that will require VisitBritain/VisitEngland to champion visits to the British countryside and rural areas to a worldwide audience and expanding the number of Local Visitor Economy Partnerships —including in rural and coastal areas. This is part of our commitment to spreading tourism’s benefits and creating an inclusive, regional growth model.