Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the role the coach travel sector can play in revitalising the UK tourism industry; and when he last met with representatives of the Confederation of Passenger Transport to discuss the revitalisation of the tourism industry.

Coaches are an important part of the UK tourism industry, and play a key role each year in connecting visitors with holiday destinations across the country. We are engaging with a broad range of tourism stakeholders to assess how we can most effectively support the sector’s recovery.

I have discussed the problems facing the coach travel sector in detail with my Ministerial counterparts in the Department for Transport, who hold overall responsibility for coach travel, as well as my counterparts in the Devolved Administrations. The Department also continues to engage with the Coach Tourism Association via the Tourism Industry Events Response Group (TIER).

In July my officials attended a cross-Government Ministerial roundtable on problems facing the coach industry, which was attended by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT). I have also responded to written correspondence from the CPT.