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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans he has to encourage the development of tourism in seaside towns and coastal communities.

VisitEngland administer the £40m Discover England Fund which has helped to develop a number of tourism products which celebrate our coastal communities, such as England’s Seafood Coast, the Garden Gourmet Trails of England and England’s Coast.

My colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also provide support and funding to coastal areas through the Coastal Communities Fund and the Coastal Revival Fund, much of which has a tourism focus. They have also set up Coastal Community Teams around the country to support the development of the coastal economy. An example of this investment is the Queensborough Harbour Trust Community Interest Company who received £500,000 of Coastal Communities Funding, increasing the number of moorings in the harbour, improving facilities for visitors and planning further activities and events for the future.