Domestic tourism needs to target a hit list of 50 politicians to raise the voice of the industry in Parliament and block harmful initiatives.
This was the view shared by panellists at Travelmole’s debate, British Tourism Week – Is It Worth It?
Members of parliament in England need to be made aware that tourism matters to their being re-elected in the same way ministers in Scotland and Wales have grasped the importance of the sector.
A group of 50 backbench MPs could block harmful government initiatives such as increases in air passenger duty and the proposed bed tax.
British Hospitality and Restaurant Association chief executive Bob Cotton said: “In Scotland and Wales politicians understand tourism matters to the economy and it matters to getting re-elected. In Westminster there is a complete disinterest and lack of understanding in tourism.”
Cotton added that the industry should be targeting MPs that need the tourism vote.
“The only thing these people understand is re-election,” he said.
VisitBritain head of government affairs Bernard Donoghue said now was the ideal time to lobby government because decisions are about to be made on future tourism spending and the 2012 Olympics.
Donoghue said facts such as, tourism providing one-in-five new jobs and contributing 4% of gross domestic product, need to be brought home to politicians.
“British Tourism Week is an opportunity for people across the UK to do something in their own patch. We do ourselves a real disservice by not talking ourselves up and by not coming together at crucial times, such as over bed tax and APD, and say we’re big and we need better recognition.”
Donoghue added that awareness also needed to be raised on the correlation between visitor spending and reinvestment.
“We’re talking about big cash on the table. Visitors to Britain are investors in Britain. Last year the taxes collected paid for 34,000 nurses in the NHS.”
British Tourism Week is from 12-18 March, www.britishtourismweek.co.uk
