Tourism Sector Deal makes it through to the next stage.

Tourism is one of only 8 industries specifically named it the Modern Industry Strategy White Paper published this week.  The following update from VB outlines the next stages in progressing the industry’s bid and also stresses Government’s apparent desire to deal with just one plan and one voice per sector:

Tourism Sector Deal: the latest

The Government has now published the next stage of the Modern Industrial Strategy, with Tourism now recognised and included.

Firstly, thank you once again to all of you who have been involved in this process. The roundtables, the consultation, meetings and submissions have all helped create the final submission that went to BEIS last month and which has been positively responded to by the Government. The Government has been clear from the outset that any industry which submitted its plans with ‘one voice’, clear leadership and a plan for the future would be granted a long-term deal for policy, planning and boosting overall competitiveness.

The industry came together with a clear plan to boost connectivity, productivity, skills and create a new idea; tourism zones.

With the publication of the White Paper, we have a much clearer idea of the road map for landing the Tourism Sector Deal.

• On Sector Deal, the White Paper has only 8 industries listed, with tourism named as one. “We know that these partnerships can work – from our experience of decade-long partnerships such as the Auto Council and the Office for Life Sciences to more recent collaborations including tourism, creative industries, space and professional and business services.”
• The next stage will now lead to Sector Deals being struck with industries who have demonstrated, a) clear leadership b) represents the breadth of the sector c) rigorous analysis of the strengths/weaknesses and d) impact on productivity.
• The Government has also been clear that the core pillars of the Industrial Strategy remain largely unchanged. They are still a) Skills b) Infrastructure c) Business d) Innovation e) Place. The Tourism Sector Deal covers all of these key areas.

White Paper highlights

Under the Sector Deal section: “We know that these partnerships can work – from our experience of decade long partnerships such as the Auto Council and the Office for Life Sciences to more recent collaborations including tourism, creative industries, space and professional and business services.”

Under Productivity Challenge section: “We will work closely with sectors such as hospitality, retail and tourism on each of the foundations of productivity in order to be able to progressively drive up the earning power of people employed in these industries and enhancing our national productivity.”

Under the Britain and the World section: “We must do more to export and promote what we do to the world’s fastest-growing economies, where there is a strong appetite not only for our goods but our world-class services, from tourism and healthcare to professional and financial services, and for cultural collaboration too.”

In the House of Commons on Monday, a couple of MPs asked specifically about Tourism and Hospitality, including the Labour frontbench. For interest the replies from Greg Clark, the BEIS Secretary are here:

Michael Fabricant, Lichfield (Con)

• Tourism employs 3m across the UK, would the Secretary of State agree that Tourism must feature in the Industrial Strategy?

Greg Clark, BEIS Secretary

“There are challenges and opportunities in the industrial strategy. Taking the opportunity to raise productivity is important, and the Tourism Sector is very important, they feature as a key area in the White Paper. It’s important to work with them to enhance training initiatives and raise productivity.”

Giles Watling, Clacton (Con)

• Tourism is worth £127bn, and accounts for 9% of GDP. Would the Secretary of State agree that Tourism should feature in the Industrial Strategy?

Greg Clark, BEIS Secretary

“I do indeed. He’s right, Tourism is a very important sector. It’s a sector which has been associated with lower pay, and that’s why we’re working with the sector on their plan. Important that we invest to get improvements in productivity in Tourism.”

Next Steps 

The Tourism Sector Deal is making good progress but we need to keep our momentum. The Government is clear that they will only deal with one plan, and one voice. Steve Ridgway is meeting the BEIS Secretary in the coming weeks to start discussions, and we will keep you all informed as things progress.  It is anticipated that announcements on any new deals will be made in the new year – working together I’m hopeful we can see our name on that list.

We will keep you fully up to date on the next stages, and look forward to beginning the formal negotiations.

Watch this space!

Yours,

Patricia Yates

Director of Strategy and Communications