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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the level of tourism in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on levels of (i) national and (ii) regional tourism.

My Department regularly assesses economic trends in the tourism sector, including those relating to Government support for tourism in regions across England.

We are working with regional partners to maximise the tourism benefits of hosting the UK City of Culture in Coventry and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. The Government has invested over £15 million to support Coventry’s year as UK City of Culture, and my Department is working closely with Coventry City of Culture Trust and partners to continue to ensure Coventry’s success as host city.

Between April and July, VisitEngland’s £1.3 million Destination Management Organisation Resilience Fund supported local tourism organisations in the West Midlands. The West Midlands Growth Company received £29,866 from the DMO Resilience Fund.

Launched in 2016, the £45m Discover England Fund has supported the development of internationally focused tourism products across England, including the ‘England’s Waterways’ project in the West Midlands.

We are regularly assessing the impact of Government measures to control the spread of Covid-19’s on the tourism sector at both a national and regional level. VisitEngland and my officials remain in close contact with regional tourism stakeholders to monitor the situation.