Tourism

Debate between Earl of Glasgow and Lord Palmer

Wednesday 24th April 2013 Grand Committee

[The Earl of Glasgow]

My Lords, I would like to make the Committee more aware of how important historic buildings and gardens are to the British tourist industry. It can be shown that Britain’s heritage, specifically its stately homes, castles and designed landscape, is the single most quoted reason for foreign visitors coming to Britain. According to VisitBritain, in 2011, some 9 million foreigners visited one or more of Britain’s historic houses, contributing £6,500 million to the economy. Here I must declare an interest in that I own a grade 1 listed castle and country park in Scotland that attracts 60,000 visitors a year. I am also a member of the Historic Houses Association, whose members are those who still own and live in their historic piles. Although I am transparently an interested party on this subject, I do have practical experience of what I am talking about.

For many years now, the Historic Houses Association has been trying to convince successive Governments of the importance of historic houses and castles to the British economy, how many foreign tourists we attract and how much our presence benefits local hotels, shops and pubs. According to its figures, the total expenditure generated by inbound tourist visits to privately owned historic houses is £1.6 billion per annum. The appropriate Minister for Tourism invariably listens to the HHA’s arguments with great sympathy but ultimately is never prepared to help us.

[Lord Palmer]

Hear, hear!

[The Earl of Glasgow]

There are no votes in making concessions to people living in grand houses; rather the opposite, we are targeted as people to be milked. Contrary to popular belief, the majority of those living in grand houses are not particularly rich—because they are living in grand houses. HHA members collectively spend £139 million a year to maintain their historic buildings and grounds, and these sums are barely enough to contain the dry rot and stop the wet coming in.

The late Nicholas Ridley, a Minister in the Thatcher Government, grew impatient with historic house owners bellyaching about the cost of maintaining their houses. “If they can’t afford to keep them, why don’t they sell them to people who can?” was the argument.