A CONSERVATIVE government would give the British Tourism Authority up to £15m to promote the UK abroad, shadow minister for sport and tourism John Greenway pledged.
Greenway said a Conservative government will match pound for pound, industry sponsorship of the BTA. He said this would help to stimulate new investment into the industry such as reopening international offices and promoting new technology.
Tourism directly or indirectly employs 1.75m people and it represents 3.6% of the gross domestic product. However, Greenway stated that although the number of visitors to the UK has increased over the past five years, the number of visitors to the UK’s European competitors has grown more. “The key issue is that we’re not promoting Britain abroad enough,” he said.
The approximate per capita government spend for tourism in the UK is £8.45 for Northern Ireland, £3.76 for Scotland, £4.99 for Wales and just 20p for England.