Tourism and Hospitality

Baroness Jones of Whitchurch Excerpts

Thursday 12th June 2014 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Jones of Whitchurch (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Harrison for tabling this debate today and for the compelling case that he and others have made in support of the importance of the tourism sector to our economy. I very much echo his contention that to leave Europe could only damage our opportunities to expand the tourism sector and benefit from it in future.

As we have heard, however you measure it, tourism is one of the largest industries in the UK. According to the Deloitte study, it contributes nearly £100 billion to the economy of England alone. One in 12 jobs in the UK is either directly or indirectly benefited by tourism. It is the UK’s third highest export earner, behind chemicals and financial services, and it is a growing sector, with tourism expenditure forecast to grow 3% per annum in this decade and spending by inbound visitors forecast to grow at an even faster rate. By any measure, the tourism and hospitality sectors deserve a place at the top table of Treasury and Business Ministers. They are delivering for our economy and could be delivering even more.

Yet, as has been said, you rarely hear mention of the achievements of those sectors by this Government outside of the immediate department. Like the noble Lord, Lord Lee, we welcome the establishment of the Tourism Council, but it has a big challenge to harness the energy of the many individuals and stakeholders in the sector who are brimming full of ideas and initiatives that could make even better use of our tourism appeal in future. So perhaps when the Minister responds he could provide some more information about the remit of the council and any positive outcomes which are envisaged from its creation.

Of course, the sector is also coming to terms with a 34% cut in real terms to the grants to VisitBritain and VisitEngland as well as the decision to decentralise many of the responsibilities to the local enterprise partnerships which, as my noble friend Lord Harrison pointed out, have had a rather patchy gestation and lack the authority, effectiveness and resources of the regional development boards which they replaced.

It is this regional challenge that I want to focus on in the time that I have left. This has been a recurring theme in this debate. One of the big challenges facing the tourism sector, reflected in the latest VisitBritain figures, is that of the 31 million visitors to the UK, more than half visit only London. Not only is this a missed opportunity, it is also symptomatic of a wider economic worry that all our wealth and investment is being drawn into the capital leading to an unbalanced economic recovery.

I believe that there is an onus on government to do more to support the tourism sector to attract visitors to our cities, regions and coastlines. This means more than funding another advertising campaign extolling the attractions of a particular tourist area, effective though I know they are. It requires a cross-department plan to look at the infrastructure needs of specific areas and invest accordingly. Take, for example, British seaside towns. Historically, they have been at the heart of our nation’s family holidays, but many are now in decline. This need not be inevitable. Of course family holidays are no longer restricted to the two-week family break at a seaside resort, but the scenery, the sand, the sea and the attractions are still there and could provide a focus for new types of tourism and shorter holiday breaks. Where I live in Brighton is a case in point. I was there last weekend and you could not move for visitors enjoying the sunshine and bringing with them much needed cash.

While Brighton still has its economic challenges, other resorts are faring far worse. Poor housing stock, high unemployment, anti-social behaviour and lack of modern infrastructure are holding back their development. Take Great Yarmouth as an example. Its town centre has a child deprivation rate of 49% and it is crying out for regeneration to offer hope to the 1,000 young people currently unemployed there. Instead, sadly, the Government abolished the Future Jobs Fund, which created nearly 4,000 jobs for young people in seaside towns, and abolished the Sea Change programme, which was helping to drive cultural and creative regeneration in these areas.

Places like Great Yarmouth could be providing a renaissance in beach holidays for the new generation of staycationers and inbound tourists, but they cannot be left to sort this alone. They need help, and government should be providing the strategy and the catalyst for the investment. This could include creating new job opportunities by providing a hub for entrepreneurs, revitalising local fishing communities, encouraging new craft and creative markets, tackling delays in broadband rollout to encourage new small businesses, supporting new marine conservation zones to encourage water-based attractions and, most importantly, sorting out neglected transport links.

My noble friend Lady Andrews, the noble Earl, Lord Caithness, and others spoke passionately about our heritage sites. Britain has a wealth of historical buildings and castles scattered right across the country, but many are in urgent need of repair and have outdated visitor centres and poor access routes. Organisations such as English Heritage, the National Trust and the Historic Houses Association have done a fantastic job, but they cannot be expected to meet all the needs of this sector, particularly when their funding is being cut. It seems obvious that we should be harnessing our unique heritage as a key driver to develop our tourism strategy outside London. We are all grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft, for listing the exciting and sometimes quirky museums and events around the country that could form the basis of those attractions.

Already more than a quarter of holidays taken by staycationers include a visit to a historic site. Our aim should be to increase this number and, more importantly, market these sites as must-see destinations for the inbound tourists who currently head for London. I very much echo the views of my noble friend Lady Andrews. She will know that I very much support her passion for exploiting the natural and cultural assets of Wales. Indeed, I also have a great deal of sympathy for the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley, and the issues he raised about the potential landscape blight which can occur from wind farms, pylons and roads. Undoubtedly, we have to plan that infrastructure and development more sympathetically. Where is the strategy to revitalise the seaside towns, our impoverished regions and our heritage? Does the Minister agree that it is a priority to build up our visitor numbers outside London and, if so, what is the department doing to make this happen?

I also echo very much the arguments put forward by my noble friend Lady Billingham and others about the opportunities to build on our sporting achievements and reputation, and to make much more of our Olympic legacy. That should have been exploited not only in London but around the country, which was the original intention in the legacy proposal. Again, it would be useful to hear from the Minister what more is being done to develop those sporting sites around the country.

Finally, I should like to pick up on the point about skills and low pay made by several noble Lords, including the noble Lord, Lord Shipley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Wheatcroft. Everything depends on the next generation of young people who we want to encourage to develop careers in the tourism and hospitality sectors. Without them, we will have nothing to market to potential visitors. We will not have the skills to give the warm welcome which the noble Baroness, Lady Seccombe, quite rightly highlighted as essential if we are going to make our tourism a success. What dialogue is taking place between the Minister’s department and Education and BIS Ministers with regard to skills? For example, is he taking steps to ensure that the skills needed in the tourism sector will be properly provided among the new, revamped, GCSEs? Obviously we all want to ensure that GCSEs remain a quality standard, but is he concerned that the more practical, vocational skills required to be effective in this sector might be squeezed out in favour of more academic studies? Can he confirm that his department is satisfied that the skills to provide high-quality tourism experiences—not just low-paid, unskilled, zero-hours work—are a priority for the education department as part of our strategy to develop our tourism potential to the full?

A common theme of this debate is that politicians do not “get” tourism. I very much hope that the Minister will be able to reassure us on this matter and that he will be able to explain that the department does “get” tourism. I very much look forward to hearing his response.