Tourism

Lord Lee of Trafford Excerpts

Monday 8th February 2016 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Lee of Trafford]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of tourism’s contribution to the economy of the United Kingdom.

[Lord Lee of Trafford (LD)]

I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and declare an interest as chairman of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions.

[The Earl of Courtown (Con)]

My Lords, the Office for National Statistics estimates that tourism directly contributed £59.6 billion to the UK economy in 2014, accounting for nearly 4% of the UK’s gross domestic product. Through our five-point plan, this Government are committed to further growing the tourism industry and spreading the benefits of its growth across the whole of Britain by encouraging more visitors to travel beyond the capital.

[Lord Lee of Trafford]

My Lords, I am delighted that the Houses of Parliament are making a significant contribution. Parliament gets around 1 million visitors a year; 33,000 people sat in our Gallery last year and the purpose-built dedicated education centre is now operating at full capacity. It can take 100,000 pupils a year or 20 school groups a day. May I urge the noble Earl to pay tribute to the 100 or so staff who work in Visitor Services here and urge more parliamentarians to visit the superb education centre?

[The Earl of Courtown]

My Lords, the noble Lord took most of my answers. He is quite right: everyone who works in Visitor Services does a great job. As the noble Lord suggested, last week I went to have a look at the education centre in Black Rod’s Garden, where I was told that 100,000 children will visit each year and how they have the different rooms available to look at. I very much recommend that all noble Lords go and take a look.