Memoranda submitted by the Tourism Alliance
1. INTRODUCTION
The Tourism Alliance was established in 2001
as the voice of the UK tourism industry. It comprises 53 Tourism
Industry Associations that together represent some 200,000 business
of all sizes throughout the UK (see appendix 1). The Tourism Alliance's
mandate is to work with Government on issues relevant to the growth
and development of tourism and its contribution to the economy.
It is therefore responding to this inquiry in that capacity.
2. BACKGROUND
Tourism is one of the largest industries in
the UK. A recent report by Deloitte and Oxford Economics concluded
that the total contribution that domestic and overseas visitors
make to the UK economy is currently £115 billion a year,
which supports 2.63 million jobs—around 10% of the UK's
total workforce.
One of the key strengths of the UK tourism industry
is that these economic and employment benefits are relatively
evenly spread across all regions of England and the UK as a whole.
Almost all regions receive more than £5 billion per annum
in tourism expenditure and employ over 100,000 in the sector.
In addition, there is an almost 50:50 split between tourism expenditure
in urban and rural areas with overseas visitors tending to travel
to cities and domestic visitors tending to stay at rural and seaside
destinations.
The importance of the industry to the recovery
of the British economy was the focus a speech on tourism that
the Prime Minister gave on 12th August when he stated that "tourism
is our third highest export earner behind chemicals and financial
services" and "one of the best and fastest ways
of generating the jobs we need so badly in this country".
The central role of tourism in the UK's economic recovery was
reinforced by the setting of ambitious Government targets for
both inbound and domestic tourism growth.
The forthcoming 2012 Olympics, together with
next year's Champions' League final at Wembley, the Rugby League
World Cup in 2013, the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the Rugby Union
World Cup in 2015 and, hopefully the Football World Cup in 2018
comprise a "decade of sport" that provides us with an
unprecedented opportunity to showcase the UK both domestically
and abroad. If we are able to get the structure and funding of
tourism right, the benefits to national and regional economies
will be substantial.
3. THE STRUCTURE
FOR TOURISM
DEVELOPMENT IN
THE UK
Tourism development and promotion in the UK
is governed by the Tourism Development Act 1969, which is administered
by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This Act provides
for the establishment of a British Tourist Authority (VisitBritain)
and Tourist Boards for England, Scotland and Wales and grants
them responsibility for promoting the development of tourism to
and within Great Britain.
Within England, a series of nine Regional Tourist
Boards were established. These organisations were membership based
but with funding from local authorities and from the English Tourist
Board in order to undertake national programmes such as quality
assurance.
This structure remained in place until 2000
when the previous Government introduced the policy of devolution.
Under this policy, the responsibility for tourism development
in Scotland and Wales was transferred to, respectively, the Scottish
Parliament and the Welsh Assembly (responsibility for the English
Tourist Board and British Tourist Authority remaining with Whitehall).
At the same time, the statutory responsibility
for tourism development at the regional level within England was
devolved to the RDAs and the Mayor's Office in London. DCMS funding
for tourism development at the regional level was transferred
to the BIS-controlled "single pot" as part of this arrangement.
It is important to note that, while local authorities have an
ability to undertake tourism development and promotion, there
is no statutory authority or requirement for them to do so. As
such, tourism development at the local authority level is patchy
and is one of the first things to be cut when funding is reduced.
This makes tourism funding through the RDAs particularly important.
The devolution of responsibility for tourism
development to the RDAs has had a significant impact on regional
tourism development. It is accepted that there have been problems
associated with the uneven allocation of funding between the RDAs,
the proportion applied to tourism, and difficulties co-ordinating
national programmes between essentially competitive organisations.
However, both the level of funding (now around £45 million
per annum) and regional commitment to tourism development have
increased significantly as a result of the establishment of the
RDAs.
Tourism has increasingly been recognised as
being a vital component of regional economies and incorporated
into regeneration and development plans. Most of the RDAs have
also established a network of tourism support organisations within
their region to bring together public and private sector tourism
expertise, leverage private sector funding, and co-ordinate local
development. This has been particularly important for both regional
and national tourism development.
4. THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF LEPS
The Government has announced the imminent abolition
of RDAs and the establishment of LEPs. We have considerable concerns
regarding the impact that the process of transition from RDAs
to LEPs will have on the existing national tourism structure.
If the new LEPs are not established in a coherent and coordinated
manner, providing national coverage for tourism businesses, the
future cohesion within the industry, and the implementation of
national programmes for tourism development, including the new
National Tourism Strategy for England, could be seriously compromised.
The timetable and process of winding-down the
RDAs and significantly reducing their funding, is being implemented
before the LEPs are established. As a result, it seems likely
that some essential core tourism development tasks previously
carried out via the RDAs will be terminated before the new arrangements
are in place. There is also the concern that the LEPs will not
have the national coverage nor the statutory responsibility to
undertake these programmes once they are established.
At this time it is unclear as to whether the
statutory responsibility for tourism development will be transferred
from the RDAs to the LEPs, whether LEPs will provide the full
national coverage required to implement the national tourism strategy
and, if not, what Department or agency will be responsible for
those areas not covered by LEPs.
There is a very real potential that a lot of
the expertise that has been developed, and the advances that have
been achieved over that last 10 years will be lost if LEPs are
not established in a coherent and co-ordinated manner. We are
also concerned that their interest in, and provision for, tourism
will vary or they may choose not to pursue provision for tourism.
The Tourism Alliance has established the following set of key
principles that we believe will provide a coherent structure for
future tourism development at the regional level (please note
that the term "regional" in this submission means "below
the level of national and above the level of local"—it
does not necessarily mean conforming to existing RDA boundaries).
4.1 Key Principles
1. There remains a need for LEPs to link,
co-ordinate and provide some administrative cohesion for tourism
development activity at the sub-national level.
2. There must be no "gaps" between
LEPs. That is, if local authorities are required to form LEPs
in order to participate in national tourism programmes and be
eligible for funding, there must be a mechanism to ensure there
are no "orphans"—all areas must be able to participate
in national programmes.
3. For tourism development and marketing,
LEPs should relate to recognisable area brands—with Local
Authorities and the private sector working through tourism partnerships
which would include existing, new and evolved tourism support
organizations.
4. The National Tourism Strategy for England
should be the principle basis for the allocation of public funding.
Tourism funding for national programmes consistent with the National
Tourism Strategy should be allocated and controlled centrally
through VisitEngland.
5. The status of recipient entities must
be defined to ensure they fulfill the requirements for state funding
and comply with state aid rules. It is felt that a "draft
constitution" should be developed to cover the essential
elements, for compliance by all recipients. This will facilitate
administration, monitoring and evaluation of outcomes on all programmes.
6. It is important that LEPs should be cost-effective,
minimizing bureaucracy and focusing on easing the flow of funding
rather than being a drain upon it.
7. Public funding for tourism activities
undertaken by the LEPs should be divided into two streams—funding
for national industry-wide programmes such as quality assurance,
accessibility, marketing campaigns, maintaining an IT platform
and sustainability.
8. Funding should be allocated on the basis
of need and potential, and on the basis of encouraging public
and private entities to come together and maximize added value.
9. ROI must remain a core criteria for investment
by LEPs.
We also note that BIS is currently consulting
on proposals to establish a Regional Growth Fund to encourage
private sector enterprise by providing support for projects with
significant potential for economic growth and create additional
sustainable private sector employment. The Tourism Alliance believes
that this fund needs to be available for tourism development and
promotional activities and co-ordinated with LEP tourism related
initiatives. The fund also needs to be available for undertaking
national tourism programmes in any areas that are not covered
by LEPs so that these programmes have complete coverage.
5. CONCLUSION
Tourism is one of the UK's largest industries
and is an important component of the economy in all regions of
England. The statutory responsibility for tourism development
at the regional level was devolved to the RDAs in 2000 and, largely,
they have all been committed to developing the tourism economy
at their regional level over the last 10 years. To maintain national
tourism programmes, this statutory responsibility needs to be
transferred to the new LEPs.
Our request is, therefore, that the risks of
dis-continuity of core tasks are recognised and that, following
appropriate consultation, transitional arrangements are put in
place to ensure that national programmes are maintained during
and following the restructuring of the RDAs. This would avoid
the high risk that expertise could be lost and programmes may
be disrupted or cease, which would be to the great detriment of
efforts to improve the quality of the English tourism offering
and put the Government's targets for domestic tourism growth and
the potential benefits of the 2012 Olympics and the "decade
of sport" in jeopardy.
APPENDIX 1
TOURISM ALLIANCE MEMBERS
Association for Tourism in Higher Education
ABTA—The Travel Association
Association of Leading Visitor Attractions
Bed and Breakfast Association
British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers
& Attractions
British Beer & Pub Association
British Educational Travel Association
British Hospitality Association
British Holiday & Home Parks Association
British Marine Federation
British Resorts and Destinations Association
Business In Sport and Leisure
Business Visits and Events Partnership
Camping and Caravanning Club
Confederation of British Industry
Confederation of Passenger Transport UK
Country Land and Business Association
Cumbria Tourism
Destination Performance UK
East of England Tourism
English Association of Self Catering Operators
English UK
European Tour Operators Association
Events Industry Alliance
Farm Stay UK
Guild of Registered Tourist Guides
Heart of England Tourist Board
Heritage Railway Association
Historic Houses Association
Historic Royal Palaces
Holiday Centres Association
Holiday Cottages Group
National Caravan Council
National Trust
New Forest Tourism Association
Outdoor Industries Association
South West Tourism
The Caravan Club
Tourism for All
Tourism Management Institute
Tourism Network North East
Tourism Society
Tourism South East
UKinbound
Visit London
VisitCornwall
Visitor Attractions Forum
Welcome to Yorkshire
Associate Members
Local Government Association
SouthWest RDA (representing the RDAs in England)
VisitBritain
VisitEngland
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