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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what plans has to use World Heritage sites to encourage economic growth.

Heritage plays an important part in the UK economy. In 2023, seven out of ten of the most popular paid visitor attractions in England were heritage attractions, according to evidence from the Annual Visitor Attraction Survey.

According to research undertaken by the UK National Commission for UNESCO in 2020, a UNESCO designation, such as a World Heritage Site designation, leads to increased tourism, brings economic benefits for local communities, and delivers a greater international profile.

DCMS works with World Heritage Site coordinators and heritage agencies across the UK to continue to build the value of these designations and to support economic growth.

Our ambition is to have 50 million international visitors to the UK a year by 2030.