Minister for Sport, Tourism and Equality, Helen Grant, has praised the hospitality and tourism sector for its financial contribution to the UK economy and its efforts in striving to create jobs.

Grant was speaking at the launch of an independent Deloitte study – commissioned by VisitBritain – which found that the tourism sector will grow by 3.8 per cent a year from 2013 until 2025.

Tourism: Jobs and Growth also reported another positive finding in that the industry has been deemed responsible for one in three new UK jobs created between 2010 and 2012.

Deloitte’s findings show that the tourism economy will be worth around £127bn (US$205bn, €152bn) this year, which is equivalent to 9 per cent of the UK’s current GDP, with the sector supporting over 3.1 million jobs.

It is thought that by 2025, Britain will have a tourism industry worth over £257bn (US$415, €307) – catering for almost 10 per cent of UK GDP, with support for almost 3.8 million jobs.

Speaking at the launch, Grant also sought to highlight the efforts of the British Hospitality Association, which has been leading discussions surrounding job creation and sector development through its Big Hospitality Conversation events across the country.

“The commitment of the hospitality and tourism industry to creating jobs and supporting young people has been brought into sharp focus by the British Hospitality Association’s Big Conversation,” said Grant.

“It has shown the potential of creating 300,000 new jobs by 2020 and 1,000 employers have already pledged to create 5,000 jobs and 15,000 apprenticeships. This is truly impressive, and it’s initiatives like this which help to realise the potential outlined in [the] report.”

A full copy of Deloitte’s Tourism: Jobs and Growth study is available here