Howells blasted for Hollywood gaffe

BRITISH Incoming Tour Operators Association boss Stephen Dowd has criticised comments made by tourism minister Kim Howells as being "unnecessary and unhelpful in the extreme”.

Before a six-day US tour to persuade Americans to holiday in the UK, Howells slammed Hollywood stars for being too frightened to fly to Europe.

He reportedly accused Hollywood actor Tom Cruise of lacking the "balls” to fly due to terrorism fears.

BITOA chief executive Stephen Dowd said: "The industry is working extremely hard without any additional financial support from the Government to overcome this problem, so for the tourism minister to jeopardise all this work with such thoughtless comments is unbelievable. If our politicians cannot help, perhaps it would be better if they said nothing at all.”