Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to page seven of her Department's policy brief, How increased Connectivity is Boosting Prospects of Rural Areas, published in December 2014, what assessment she has made of the effect of Visit England's marketing campaigns on tourism to rural areas to date.

Tourism is one of the most important sectors of the rural economy. In recognition of this, the Government launched the Rural Tourism package aimed at growing the visitor economy in rural areas. Under that package, Visit England estimates that its promotional activity to attract visitors to the countryside has so far delivered an extra 1,851 full-time equivalent jobs and £100 million in visitor spend.