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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure the museum sector contributes to her Department's tourism-related objectives.

Museums play an important role in contributing to tourism across the country. According to the International Passenger Survey 27% of international visits to the UK involve a trip to a museum or gallery.

DCMS is supporting the growth of tourism through a number of activities related to museums including:

• DCMS sponsored national museums and galleries are encouraged to work with regional museums through their funding agreements with DCMS.
  
• The sponsorship of Arts Council England (ACE), the national body which supports museums and galleries in England. This includes ACE’s investment of £3m into a new Cultural Destinations programme, to enable arts and culture organisations working in partnership with destination management organisations to increase their reach, engagement and resilience through working with the tourism sector

All of these actions support the Prime Minister’s Tourism Action Plan published in August 2016, a key aim of which is to grow tourism throughout the country.