CMS Select Committee inquiry into tourism closed 29 September 2014.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee have announced an inquiry into tourism.

“All parts of the United Kingdom have much to offer tourists, foreign and domestic alike. An overarching theme of our inquiry is to examine ways in which this potential can be developed for the benefit of both local economies and the country as a whole.  Among the issues we have identified are the following:

• Encouraging tourism outside London and the few other heavily visited cities to other parts of the United Kingdom
• Consolidating and building on London’s success as a tourist destination
• Reversing a long-term decline in seaside destinations
• Reducing regulatory burdens on business
• The application of taxes and fees to visitors from overseas, for example in relation to VAT, Air Passenger Duty, visa and other costs
• Visa and border arrangements
• Improving the competitiveness of hotel accommodation in comparison to other countries
• Increasing skills and training within the domestic tourism sector
• Assessing the success of campaigns such as “GREAT” Britain
• Structural arrangements for tourism promotion, including public funding for and the roles of local enterprise partnerships, VisitBritain, VisitEngland and similar organisations in the rest of the UK

The Committee invites written evidence from those who wish to contribute to the inquiry by Monday 29 September 2014″.

Press announcement can be found at:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/news/inquiry-announced-tourism/