Tourism in Yorkshire

Julian Sturdy Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Westminster Hall

[Julian Sturdy (York Outer) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship again, Mr Hancock. It is also a great pleasure to speak in this debate. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty (Nigel Adams) on securing a debate that is so important to our region. I echo the sentiments already expressed by fellow Yorkshire Members on both sides of the Chamber.

Tourism is a key economic driver across the Yorkshire region as a whole and to the city of York directly, creating 23,000 jobs in the city, generating £433 million for the local economy and promoting the many visible and, indeed, hidden treasures of God’s own county to more than 7 million visitors a year.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty has said, the Prime Minister made a key speech in August 2010 about the importance of tourism to the UK economy. Tourism is worth at least £47 billion a year to the UK economy, with more than 1.7 million people employed in the sector at present. Throughout his speech, the Prime Minister admirably stressed the importance of a renewed focus on tourism and the need for Britain to break into the top five in the World Economic Forum’s travel and tourism competitiveness ratings.

If Britain is to achieve that goal, a vibrant, growing and resilient tourism sector across Yorkshire will be crucial. However, too many people still automatically think of London when they think of British tourism. The capital is indeed a remarkable and historic place, and it is undoubtedly one of the greatest cities in the world—up there even with the great city of York. However, there is more to Britain than London, and if we are to boost the tourism sector, we need to boost our support for local tourism in regions across the country. With that, I pay tribute to Welcome to Yorkshire’s success in our region, from innovative advertising to key partnership working.

My hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty has mentioned King’s Cross station. Similarly, on the few times I fly into Manchester airport, I see the sign saying “Gateway to Yorkshire”, which always lifts the heart of any Yorkshire man. I am sorry that the hon. Member for Bradford South (Mr Sutcliffe) has had to leave, but he is a keen Manchester United supporter, and he will have seen that sign many times.

As one of the two MPs for the city of York, I shall focus particularly on tourism in York. As many Yorkshire colleagues present will testify, York is a beautiful and historic city. It is situated on the banks of the River Ouse and surrounded by quaint villages and spectacular landscapes. From its Roman ruins and Viking remains to the industrial legacy of the National Railway museum and the jewel in the crown that is York minster, York is truly one of Europe’s most inspirational and eye-catching destinations.

More than 1 million people a year walk on the city’s historic walls. For a Yorkshire man or woman, it is almost a ritual to be walked over the walls by their father or grandfather as a young child. Originally designed to defend the city from attack, the walls now stand as a proud symbol of York’s history and international standing.

The challenge for York, as for so many areas, is to compete in an increasingly tough tourism market during extremely difficult economic times. That is why regional partnership working, which my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Andrew Jones) has mentioned, is so important. York has already benefited from such partnership working, which brought about the refurbishment of the Yorkshire museum, which now receives record numbers of visitors.

Yorkshire racing and the Ebor festival are other examples. The hon. Member for Bradford South touched on Yorkshire racing, and Welcome to Yorkshire got involved in promoting racing across the region two years ago. This year, the numbers at the Ebor festival were up 16% on the back of record attendance figures last year. Some 360,000 people visited the race course last year—the highest number since racing started on the Knavesmire in York in 1761. Members should think of the impact those growth figures have on the economy of not only York but the wider region. Similarly, the production of “The Railway Children” in London lifted visitor numbers at the National Railway museum by 6%.

I welcome the Government’s tourism strategy, which they published in March, and I agree with their three aims of launching a £100 million marketing campaign, increasing the proportion of UK residents holidaying in the UK and increasing the sector’s productivity—no one can argue against those—but we must make sure that the money is channelled through the right areas to deliver the biggest impact.

I acknowledge the important role played by local authorities in promoting local tourism, and I congratulate the Minister on a policy that will incentivise local authorities to do more on that front. I hope reforming business rates revenue will ensure that local authorities reap the full rewards of their tourism strategies, rather than simply picking up the costs. Such incentives should drive City of York council to do even more to promote the city’s tourism industry. I would, however, be interested to learn the Minister’s thoughts on the role played by local enterprise partnerships in local tourism. How much responsibility for tourism are those new bodies expected to pick up in the coming years?

In his speech last August, the Prime Minister stated that

“tourism is one of the missing pieces in the UK’s economic strategy.”

I agree wholeheartedly with those sentiments, and I would be grateful if the Minister were to provide an update on the Government’s work internationally to promote tourism in Britain and specifically in Yorkshire. Likewise, the creation of business-friendly conditions is key to supporting the tourism sector in cities such as York. Such conditions encourage entrepreneurship and support small local businesses, which are crucial to York’s vibrant atmosphere. I would therefore be grateful for the Minister’s thoughts on whether the Government are doing enough on that front.

I want briefly to mention the funding of Visit York. Visit York is having to apply for alternative funding, and one of its bids is being made to the regional growth fund via VisitEngland. Given that it faces budget cuts, I would be grateful if the Minister could advise it on how best to apply for funds elsewhere and if he could give us his thoughts on how partnership working across the region might drive economies of scale.

I appeal to the Government to retain their strong focus on tourism. The sector needs encouragement and reassurance. Cities such as York have much to offer, as long as enough support is provided during economically challenging times. As a result of the dynamic and innovative work of Welcome to Yorkshire and Visit York and the partnerships they have formed, the tourism industry in our region is in great heart. Those bodies have proved themselves great wealth creators in our region, and that must always be remembered in any funding formula. For that success to continue, however, we need a level playing field. In that respect, I support my hon. Friend the Member for Selby and Ainsty in his drive for matched funding for the tourism industry.

As I have mentioned, the city of York and our region have a magnificent story to tell visitors, but we, as representatives of our region, also play a role, in proudly talking about our beautiful, historic county and in promoting its many delights and attractions.