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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to encourage UK citizens to take holidays in UK seaside towns.

DCMS works hard to support the UK’s coastal destinations, engaging closely with the National Coastal Tourism Academy (NCTA) to stay abreast of current trends, opportunities and concerns.

Together with VisitEngland, the £40m Discover England Fund project supports several coastal products, developed to target international visitors but also benefit domestic tourism. Projects such as England’s Coast led by the NCTA, South West Coastal Path led by the South West Coast Path Association and England’s Seafood Coast, led by the English Tourism Riviera Company are some examples of DEF projects in coastal regions.

VisitBritain (VB) run coastal destinations groups which generally meet four times a year, discussing the challenges facing coastal destinations with the aim of sharing insights and best practice, developing joint policy positions to address those deemed most important.

VB sit on the Coastal Tourism Leadership Forum(run by the NCTA), helping to shape the Coastal Visitor Economy Vision and Action Plan. DCMS are observers at the forum.