Tourism in Yorkshire

Mike Hancock Excerpts

Tuesday 13th September 2011 Westminster Hall

[Greg Mulholland (Leeds North West) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend and Yorkshire colleague. He will be pleased to know that I was happy once again to take my family to Yorkshire on our summer holiday. I apologise to him and to you, Mr Hancock, because I have to leave for an equally important event for Yorkshire; it is the launch of the Leeds city region bid for the green investment bank—something that colleagues will also support.

My hon. Friend is right about the offering that Yorkshire has, with two national parks, some of the finest coast in the country and a host of attractions. I pay tribute to the wonderful and important work that Welcome to Yorkshire does in promotion. I ask the tourism Minister not only to be a champion for tourism in this country, which I am sure he will be, but to ensure that he speaks to his colleagues in the Treasury—

[Mr Mike Hancock (in the Chair)]

Order. You are pushing your luck; this is an intervention, not a speech. You have apologised for having to leave, so ask your question and then we will move on.

[Greg Mulholland]

Thank you, Mr Hancock. I am asking my question now. Can the Minister, in his discussions with the Treasury, ensure that sustainable development cannot include the deliberate closure of pubs and other community assets, which are enormously important to the whole of Yorkshire? People are cashing in those assets for the one fast buck of development, but that is not sustainable development.

[Mr Mike Hancock (in the Chair)]

That is not a precedent for anyone else. Mr Mulholland, I think you owe the House apologies for that; it was an intervention, not a Member’s speech or a speech in lieu because you had to leave. May we bear that in mind for future reference?

[Nigel Adams]

I appreciated that intervention, despite its length. I echo what my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds North West (Greg Mulholland) said about pubs—I am a fellow member of the all-party save the pub group. The point that he made is incredibly important.

Not only is this country well worth a visit, but the tourism industry is vital to our economy, and the 200,000 businesses directly involved are key contributors to Britain’s economic recovery. They provide £52 billion of our gross domestic product and 4.4% of our jobs, and they have contributed to making tourism one of the fastest growing sectors, providing employment in our most rural communities and enjoyment to millions. The industry accounts for almost £90 billion in direct spending each year and, equally importantly, it rises above north-south or regional divides and creates wealth and employment in all parts of the country. It remains a fantastic, cost-effective way to rebalance the fortunes of the country away from past reliance on financial services, construction and the south-east.

I turn to tourism in Yorkshire. As I am sure we are all aware, Yorkshire is England’s largest county, with a population of 5.5 million—equal to that of Scotland and twice that of Wales. Tourism is the county’s third largest industry and continues to support a quarter of a million jobs and more than 25,000 businesses, many of which are in rural and coastal areas that depend solely on visitors for their livelihoods. I am pleased to see Members representing coastal areas in the Chamber today.

All my Yorkshire colleagues present today are well acquainted with the county’s official destination management organisation, which is called Welcome to Yorkshire. I am delighted to see the senior management team of Welcome to Yorkshire, who are—by sheer coincidence—in the Chamber today. The organisation is widely heralded as a national success story that has transformed the UK tourism landscape. I confess to being, in a previous life, a director of its predecessor, the Yorkshire Tourist Board. What now exists is a completely different beast; Welcome to Yorkshire is doing a fantastic job.