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Tourism Alliance calls on government to stump up cash for 2012 initiatives
The Tourism Alliance has welcomed the launch of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s (DCMS) consultation document on the development of a tourism strategy for the 2012 Olympics, but questioned how the government plans to fund the proposed initiatives.
Policy director for the Tourism Alliance, Kurt Janson, said: “There are any number of initiatives that can be undertaken to improve the performance of the tourism sector in the lead-up to the Olympic Games but there needs to be a commitment on behalf of the government to contribute the resources necessary to making them a reality.
“Of the £300m of current government expenditure on tourism, central government can only control the expenditure of the £50m grant-in-aid to VisitBritain. The remaining £250m is spent by the devolved administrations, RDAs and local authorities – none of which is accountable to central government.
“That £50m grant-in-aid to VisitBritain has also not increased for 10 years now. To compensate, VisitBritain has already undertaken an intensive programme to reduce costs – there is little room to cut costs further.
“So we face the situation that, while £2.4bn of public and lottery money will be spent on holding the Olympic Games, the DCMS is putting together a tourism strategy with which it hopes to gain up to £2bn in additional revenue based on a level of funding that, by the time of the Games, will not have changed for more than 15 years.”
The DCMS has estimated that between 50-75 per cent of the potential economic benefit of the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be raised by the tourism industry.
The consultation document the department has launched to determine a tourism strategy covers five areas: structures, positioning the UK as a world class destination, quality, linking tourism and the wider 2012 effort and setting targets – such as VisitBritain’s aim to reach £100bn in tourism turnover by 2010.
Submissions for the consultation are due by 17 November 2006. Details: www.culture.gov.uk or www.tourismalliance.com
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