Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to promote (a) the North and (b) Lancashire as tourist destinations.

VisitEngland administers the £40m Discover England Fund, supporting the development of innovative and bookable tourism product across England to international markets. For example, the “Discover More Than Just A Holiday” project, led by Marketing Lancashire and “Buzzing For The Weekend”, led by Warrington Council.

VisitBritain also has a Gateway Partnership with Manchester Airport, promoting Manchester as a gateway to the North of England, encouraging visitors to choose Manchester, the North of England and Northern Wales as their destination.

ExploreGB will be held in Harrogate this May, promoting UK tourism product to over 200 international buyers from over 30 countries. Destinations from the North of England will be attending this event, promoting their products face to face.

The proposed Tourism Sector Deal aims to improve productivity in the tourism industry across the country through a range of initiatives. The sector and the Government are currently in formal negotiations over the deal and we hope to be able to provide further information in due course.