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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to promote the UK as a destination for major international conferences, exhibitions and events.

The Government is committed to promoting the UK as a destination for major international conferences, exhibitions and events. The UK will host the Eurovision Song Contest next year in Liverpool, on behalf of last year’s winner Ukraine. The event will be a great opportunity to showcase the UK’s visitor economy and host people from all over the world.

VisitBritain’s Business Events Growth Programme forms a key part of the government’s commitment to grow the business events sector. In 2022/23, the programme is on course for a record year of successful applications across a wide distribution of British cities, supporting events in the UK’s strongest growth sectors. So far this financial year, there have been 25 confirmed applications for potential and confirmed events in 11 cities across the UK.

The Tourism Recovery Plan sets out our long-term vision for growing the sector and our commitment to providing strong government advocacy for business events. The Tourism Industry Council’s Events Industry Board working group advises on how industry and the government can collaborate to support the sector’s growth.