Tourism: Chinese Visitors

Debate between Viscount Younger of Leckie and Lord Lee of Trafford

Monday 12th November 2012 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

China is a priority tourism market. Compared with five years ago, there has been a 39% increase in visitor numbers from China, a 111% increase in nights they spend in the UK, and a 97% increase in their expenditure while they are here. VisitBritain is investing more than £125 million in a major four-year international promotional campaign in key overseas markets. The Government also recently announced additional funds for the GREAT campaign to drive trade and tourism from China. We are making the visa application process more user-friendly for Chinese visitors.

[Lord Lee of Trafford]

My Lords, that is all very well, but at present a potential visitor from China must fill in a 30-page visa application form in English and find £650 for a family of four in visa fees and air passenger duty. Is it therefore surprising that mainland Europe gets four times as many visitors from China as we do? I know that my noble friend is a great supporter of tourism. He led the last tourism debate in your Lordships’ House. However, when are the Government going to take tourism seriously? When are they going to fund VisitBritain properly, realise that its chairmanship is not a two-days-per-week job, and bring tourism into the title of DCMS? Is it not time that we had a national champion for tourism? Perhaps the noble Lord, Lord Coe, could take that on as part of his Olympic legacy.

[Viscount Younger of Leckie]

We must do all that we can to keep visa application costs down, even though research backed by the tourism industry shows that visa costs and indeed the process for applying are not a significant barrier to in-bound Chinese tourists. It is true that the cost of a UK short-term visa is £78. A Schengen visa is less, at £50, although this cost is expected to increase when the biometric capture is included in the near future. A UK visa has biometric capture, which we regard as important for our security. It is worth pointing out that by 2030 China will have 1.4 billion middle-income consumers. There is therefore a great opportunity for us all to capture some of this market in the future.