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tourism, London, visa

Committee announce new inquiry into tourism in the UK

23 July 2014

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The Culture, Media and Sport Committee announces inquiry into tourism.

In 2013, there were 32.8 million visits to the UK by people living abroad; 39% of these were as part of a holiday. In the same year, UK residents paid almost twice as many - 58.5 million - visits abroad. While tourism in the devolved administrations is directly a matter for them, there is a shared interest in promoting a thriving tourist industry throughout the United Kingdom. One estimate puts the value of tourism to the UK economy (in 2011) at £53 billion.

All parts of the United Kingdom have much to offer tourists, foreign and domestic alike. An overarching theme of our inquiry is to examine ways in which this potential can be developed for the benefit of both local economies and the country as a whole.  Among the issues we have identified are the following:

  • Encouraging tourism outside London and the few other heavily visited cities to other parts of the United Kingdom
  • Consolidating and building on London’s success as a tourist destination
  • Reversing a long-term decline in seaside destinations
  • Reducing regulatory burdens on business
  • The application of taxes and fees to visitors from overseas, for example in relation to VAT, Air Passenger Duty, visa and other costs
  • Visa and border arrangements
  • Improving the competitiveness of hotel accommodation in comparison to other countries
  • Increasing skills and training within the domestic tourism sector
  • Assessing the success of campaigns such as "GREAT" Britain
  • Structural arrangements for tourism promotion, including public funding for and the roles of local enterprise partnerships, VisitBritain, VisitEngland and similar organisations in the rest of the UK

The Committee invites written evidence from those who wish to contribute to the inquiry.

How to respond

Written submissions should be sent online via the tourism inquiry page. The evidence submission form will be open from Thursday 24 July. Submissions should be received by Monday 29 September 2014.

Further information