MPs slam devolution in tourism
Tory MPs have attacked the Government's devolutionary approach to tourism in England.
In a Commons debate last week, South Cambridgeshire MP Andrew Lansley warned that the approach could harm the tourist industry.
Former heritage secretary Virginia Bottomley added: "There is a disintegration into different tribes promoting their own separate areas."
Lansley feared there would be "further fracturing" of tourism promotion when London is given its own marketing budget.
He also criticised Government plans to replace the English Tourist Board with an English Tourism Council.
A single, co-ordinated strategy encompassing England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland was needed to redress the UK's deepening tourism trade deficit and falling share of the global market, Lansley said.
