Special Report
The London Leadership
Forum
Tobias Ellwood, Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, responsible for tourism, was guest speaker at the EP leadership forum held at 1 Lombard Street Restaurant this week.
Key questions debated…
- Tourism is the UK's fifth largest industry but do people understand just how important it is? (According to Deloitte research, supports 2.7 million jobs, 200,000 SMEs and is worth £114 billion.)
- Funding for tourism is currently allocated to regional tourism authorities throughout the UK, but do authorities and businesses work together in a co-ordinated fashion?
- With issues such as funding for the 2012 Olympic Games, are we making the most of the tourism opportunity?
- There is a lot of talk about domestic tourism. Don't we need to compete better on the world stage?
- Has the public lost faith in politics?
- Should tourism sit under the DTI or the DCMS?
Key comments and thoughts from Tobias discussed during the forum:
Tourism is the UK's fifth largest industry but do people understand just how important it is?
"Tourism is the UK's fifth biggest industry, bigger than fisheries and agriculture. People do not realise how successful and important the industry is - tourism just gets on with the job. It's perhaps because of this self-reliance that the topic does not get debated as much as it should do."
Funding for tourism is currently allocated to regional tourism authorities throughout the UK, but do authorities and businesses work together in a co-ordinated fashion?
"Legislation which affects the industry is spread across a number of different departments. Tourism needs to be better co-ordinated. For example, in some international cities you may find five separate offices representing different UK tourism marketing agencies. Likewise, the website of the Eden Project in Cornwall, a major tourism destination, does not highlight its local agency visitcornwall.com."
With issues such as funding for the 2012 Olympic Games, are we making the most of the tourism opportunity?
"We have not made the most of the tourism opportunity presented by 2012 and we cannot afford to miss this opportunity."
There is a lot of talk about domestic tourism. Don't we need to compete better on the world stage?
"Absolutely. At present the UK is ranked sixth in the world as a choice of destination to visit. Yes, we need to improve and be more competitive. We need to market ourselves better. However, 80% of tourism is local."
Has the public lost faith in politics?
"I am not sure they have lost faith in politics. Politics is about democracy, which is not a perfect system and is inefficient by its nature. Dictatorship is efficient! The point is that democracy is about fairness and equality. The good thing about crises like the expenses scandal is that it raises the debate and, as result, politics will improve."
Should tourism sit under the DTI or the DCMS?
"It might get lost in the DTI. I would prefer to have a greater focus on the DCMS."
The full report from the leadership forum will be published in the next issue of EP magazine due out on 1 August.
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