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 effect of local festivals on the growth of local tourism.

VisitBritain research shows that in 2016, over one million of the UK’s inbound visitors come here with attending a festival in mind, spending nearly £1.2bn during their visit.

In addition, the Arts Council has carried out research into the benefits of local events on the community and economy. For example, the SO Festival in East Lindsey is estimated to have increased footfall from 30,000 to 83,000. The Grinagog Festival in Torquay submitted a report for their 2018 festival estimating that there was £150,000 direct economic impact based on 2,400 paying customers.