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China: British Tourist Authority
Lord Fearn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What arrangements are in place in China to handle inquiries from those wishing to travel as tourists to the United Kingdom. [HL4460]
The Minister of State, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Baroness Blackstone): The British Tourist Authority can provide information for potential visitors to the UK through its offices in Hong Kong. However inquirers based in mainland China are directed usually to the BTA's website www.visitbritain.com.
British Tourist Authority: Grants
Lord Fearn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What grants or resources have been given to the British Tourist Authority to support its work in
(a) Europe, (b) the United States and (c) Australia during the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and in 2002 to date. [HL4461]
Baroness Blackstone: The Government award the British Tourist Authority grant-in-aid to promote Britain abroad as an attractive tourist destination but do not allocate sums for particular markets. Nevertheless, Europe, the United States and Australia as key markets for BTA campaign actvities are likely to remain the focus of much of this funding.
Annual grant-in-aid and funds from the reserve allocated to the BTA are as follows:
| Year | 1999–2000 | 2001–02 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
| GIA £ | 36.0 | 37.0 | 35.5 | 35.5 |
| Reserve | – | – | 14.2 | 19.0 |
| Total | 36.0 | 37.0 | 49.7 | 54.5 |
English Tourism Council: Grants
Lord Fearn asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What grants or resources have been given to the English Tourism Council to support its work in promoting tourism in England during the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and in 2002 to date.[HL4462]
Baroness Blackstone: The following table sets out the baseline grant-in-aid funding available to the English Tourism Council (ETC) in its role of supporting and promoting English tourism for the financial years 1999–2000 to 2002–03. Since its transformation from the old English Tourist Board in July 1999, the ETC's remit has been to drive forward research, improve quality standards, promote best practice and innovation, co-ordinate data collection and analysis and act as a voice for successful sustainable tourism in England.
| 1999–2000 | 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 |
| £11.8 million(6) | £11.0 million(7) | £9.6 million(8) | £11.6 million(9) |
(6) This includes £1.8 million grant-in-aid for transitional costs following the launch of the ETC in 1999.
(7) This includes £1 million grant-in-aid for transitional costs following the launch of the ETC in 1999.
(8) The ETC was also awarded £3.8 million to tackle foot and mouth disease and £0.6 million for the Capital Modernisation Fund: £0.4 million for London was granted by DCMS direct to the Greater London Authority (GLA) under the terms of the GLA Act.
(9) The ETC has also received £1 million for the Million Visitor Campaign, £2.4 from the Invest to Save Budget, £0.3 million from both the Capital Modernisation Fund and £0.3 million from the Small Business Service: £0.4 million for London was again granted direct to the Greater London Authority.
The ETC has not had a remit for, nor resources allocated to, domestic marketing. However, it did receive additional funds of £3.8 million during 2001–02 to undertake some promotional activity during the foot and mouth outbreak. Of this sum, about £3 million was spent on visitor information and marketing by the ETC or the regional tourist boards.
On 13 May the Government announced radical change to the English Tourism Council and the creation of a public-private coalition that will market England to the UK market and develop e-tourism.
Lord Fearn asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Blackstone: The British Resorts Association (BRA) has not received any grants or resources from the Government from the year 1999 to date. The BRA is an organisation whose members are primarily local authorities and as such is funded through membership subscriptions and some commercial activity.
Baroness Anelay of St Johns asked Her Majesty's Government:
Baroness Blackstone: No Minister was invited to attend the World Conference on Women in Sport in Montreal between 16 and 19 May. Two representatives from the Womens Sports Foundation (WSF) and a representative from UK Sport did attend the conference in Montreal. The WSF representatives have previously met with the Minister for Sport and are meeting again with DCMS officials in the very near future.
Lord Freyberg asked Her Majesty's Government:
The Lord Privy Seal (Lord Williams of Mostyn): There are over 400 non-operational arts and antiques situated in Whitehall buildings. These can be categorised as follows:
Lord Freyberg: asked Her Majesty's Government:
Lord Williams of Mostyn: It has never been the practice to release this information in this way. The asset register clearly lays out that the majority of gifts are mainly jewellery items. There are valid security reasons for not placing such data freely in the public domain.
What grants and resources have been given to the British Resorts Association during the years 1999, 2000, 2001 and in 2002 to date. [HL4463]
Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Blackstone on 22 May (WA 106), which Minister took the decision that the United Kingdom would not be represented by a Minister at the World Conference on Women in Sport held in Montreal 16–19 May; why the Minister reached that decision; whether officials attended the conference; and what action they propose to take as a consequence of the proceedings at the conference. [HL4538]
Whether they will give full details of the "non-operational art and antiques situated in Whitehall buildings" that are held by the Cabinet Office and valued at over £6 million in the National Asset Register.[HL3866]
No. of items £
Furniture 257 5,203,475.00
Carpets 8 94,100.00
Clocks 33 188,500.00
Silver 60 193,210.00
European and Oriental 27 34,450.00
European Art 10 400,000.00
Ceramics 6 2,650.00
Total 6,116,385.00
Whether they will give full details of the "non-operational assets donated to serving Prime Ministers, past and present" that are held by the Cabinet Office and valued at over £1.4 million in the National Asset Register.[HL3867]
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