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 situation relating to covid-19, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of providing emergency financial support for the tourism sector.
We are aware that the COVID-19 outbreak is impacting businesses across many sectors and that the tourism sector has been significantly impacted.
I regularly engage with stakeholders in the tourism sector and across Government on this developing issue. My Department and VisitBritain have organised two meetings between the industry and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer and VisitBritain are organising weekly meetings with industry. I will continue to monitor its impact on the sector and would urge tourism businesses to share information with VisitBritain.
The Government announced a range of measures in the Budget to provide economic support for affected businesses, including SMEs in the tourism and hospitality sector. I also discussed this matter in detail with my counterparts from the Devolved Administrations last week.