Government under fire in tourism debate
The English Tourism Council (ETC) needs to be given the funding to do its own marketing and boost the flagging English touirism industry, according to speakers at today's Annual Tourism Debate at Earls Court, London.
John Greenway, shadow minister for sport and tourism, branded the ETC's current budget as "emasculating", suggesting that if the Government will not provide more money then the industry should introduce its own levy on relevant businesses.
Currently, government funding for marketing is given to regional tourism bodies with the ETC in a co-ordinating role. But the ETC is given no money to market England as a whole.
"The ETC must be given a strategic marketing role and the resources to go with it," Greenway said.
Nick Harvey, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for culture, media and sport, agreed, calling the ETC's current budget "horribly inadequate".
"No good will be done if it's just mopping up the regional budgets and giving them to the ETC, it needs a whole new budget apart from the regional ones," he said.
Mary Lynch, chief executive of the ETC, said that tourism now accounts for £75b a year in the UK, and the Government sees that large figure as an indication of a successful industry which does not need more public funds.
"But it's about what more we're losing by not making that investment," Lynch said. "£75b is not to be sniffed at but we could do so much better."
Yesterday Tessa Jowell, secretary of state for culture, media and sport, said that there should be more professional marketing of Britain and that the ETC had been asked to divert current resources in to it.
She also announced discussions with the ETC over whether a marketing role will be given to it "in the longer run".
Ironically, in a debate titled "Tourism Undervalued?" questioning the Government's commitment to supporting tourism, Kim Howells, the tourism minister, had to cancel his keynote speech.
This gave the other speakers the chance to criticise the Government's handling of the industry.
Ken Robinson, managing director of consultancy Leisure, Recreation and Tourism, said: "Our problems are created by the Government's hands-off attitude to tourism."
But Dave Meneer, marketing director of the Eden Project in Cornwall, said the industry should be more optimistic and stop blaming others for poor business. "Can we just forget about last year and move on?" he asked.
