Tourism

Lord Stevenson of Balmacara Excerpts

Wednesday 24th April 2013 Grand Committee

[Lord Stevenson of Balmacara]

My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Lee, for keeping this important issue in our minds and for giving us the chance to repeat the debate that marked my first appearance on the Front Bench. I think that my opposite number also spoke on this subject on probably one of the first occasions that he spoke since he joined the Chamber; so it has memories for us.

This was rather a mixed debate in that we heard lusty praise for local attractions from all a round the Committee, but many of those attractions are outside London. That is a good thing. This is one of the rare times when we have had a debate that has focused on non-metropolitan issues. I am afraid that we did not come up with any policy options, which I think was the purpose of having this debate. Nevertheless, I think we are all agreed that it is important that there is a policy initiative. I have to disagree with my former Minister—the noble Baroness, Lady Bottomley—who I see in her place, as I felt that she rather overstated her praise for her successor but four, I think. When I was researching this subject I was struck by the fact that when the Secretary of State before the current one left office, his parting shot was to call for new county boundary signs, saying that the current signs greeting visitors as they travel round are dull, often boring and do little to entice tourists. Surely we can do better than that. I hope that the noble Lord will give us some idea of the policy options available to him and his colleagues when he replies to the debate.

I do not have time to go through all the various issues that were raised, and a number of them are very important but they are all around the importance of tourism to the UK economy. It is our sixth largest industry, third largest export earner and accounts for about 9.1% of employment. Surely something can be done about it. The fact that it is so joined-up suggests that it is not in its right place in the DCMS. Something more needs to be added on top of that. I am attracted to the idea that came up in another place that, as with architecture, one should have tourism experts or champions in each of the policy departments within which it operates. That is something I would like to see.

Many of the comments today have been about policy issues to do with air passenger duty, visas and their problems, brilliantly exposed by the noble Lord, Lord Bilimoria, and about what the Government might do to try to resolve that. When the noble Lord replies, can he respond to the question of whether his department has raised with the relevant departments in transport and the Home Office the issues that are causing such problems in the tourism area? This is important and, as somebody said, it always gets left to the last. The current Government and the previous Labour Government did not do enough to try to resolve the issues and get the benefits that would come from tourism if they were to be resolved.

Regulation in the industry is said to be difficult and overburdensome. It is possible that that could be picked up on and put further up the agenda. There is, of course, the question of taxation. I was attracted to the figures that were presented, particularly around the reduction of VAT. I know from my recent experience in Ireland, which we visit, that the reduction there in their rate of VAT, particularly in the hospitality industry, has had a huge impact in terms of the activity going on in that area. It must, in some ways, be at least self-financing there—something that we would recommend to the Government, even though I know that the response will be that these are matters for the Chancellor of the Exchequer.