EU Withdrawal: Tourism and Hospitality Industries Debate

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Baroness Wheatcroft

Main Page: Baroness Wheatcroft (Crossbench - Life peer)

EU Withdrawal: Tourism and Hospitality Industries

Baroness Wheatcroft Excerpts
Monday 18th April 2016

(8 years, 6 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Earl of Courtown Portrait The Earl of Courtown
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My Lords, as the noble Lord, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, is well aware, the tourist industry is of enormous importance to the United Kingdom. It employs nearly 3 million people and contributed £59.6 billion in economic output in 2013. As the noble Lord, Lord Lee of Trafford, said, nearly two-thirds of our inbound visitors—60%—were from the European Union.

Baroness Wheatcroft Portrait Baroness Wheatcroft (Con)
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My Lords, Britain’s museums and galleries are a major attraction for visitors from overseas—I declare an interest as a trustee of the British Museum—and they benefit from co-operation with equivalents across the EU. Does my noble friend the Minister have a view as to whether that co-operation would continue and thrive were we to stalk away from Europe?

Earl of Courtown Portrait The Earl of Courtown
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My noble friend gives her point of view. I am sure that the different venue points that visitors come to in this country work with similar venues inside the European Union. I should say that 52% of EU holiday visitors visit gardens and parks, 49% go to the pub, and 42% visit museums or galleries, so when visitors come to the United Kingdom, a large number of them visit those sorts of attractions.