Tourism summit will tackle vital issues, promises Anderson

Tourism minister Janet Anderson has pledged that the tourism summit planned for next March will be a "serious decision-making body" with a remit to tackle hospitality issues such as licensing, planning and employment law.

Speaking at the regional meeting of the Restaurant Association at the Hoste Arms in Burnham Market, Norfolk, last week, Anderson said the creation of the English Tourism Council had released an extra £6m to support tourism in the regions.

She pointed out that the new Mayor of London's remit would include making the capital into a "gateway" to the regions for foreign visitors, especially the extra two to three million expected to visit the Millennium Dome next year.

Tourism contributed some £61b to the UK economy, said Anderson, and rural areas accounted for at least £10b of that total. She promised that Government recognition of this fact would be reflected in the proposed Rural White Paper, which was to be published "shortly".

Sports tourism, which was neglected in this year's tourism strategy paper, would be tackled next year, along with research into why 40% of Britons do not take leisure breaks for more than three days, while many others take none at all.

Anderson said this could represent "a vast, untapped market it would be nice to get to".

by Angela Frewin