UK tourism leaders to lobby Prime Minister over investment

At a special summit in Liverpool, marking the city’s achievements as a European Capital of Culture for 2008, tourism industry leaders intend to lobby Prime Minister Gordon Brown over the need for government investment in the sector.

The tourism leaders are warning that without the needed investment in the sector, as many as 114,000 tourism jobs could be lost during the economic downturn, which would negate any benefit derived from the government’s capital investment efforts.

Public and private sector organization representatives are expected to tell the Prime Minister that as the financial services sector declines, the country needs to focus on industries that are capable of delivering revenue and creating jobs. They will argue that the £114 billion tourism economy is capable of delivering and would make good use of a government investment.

The lobbying effort is being led by VisitBritain, which will highlight tourism’s capability of quickly creating jobs. The nation’s tourism agency claims that for every £40,000 spent in the tourism sector, a job is created.

Executive Chairman of VisitBritain, Christopher Rodrigues, said: “To realise all of the benefits which flow from tourism – jobs created, vibrant communities regenerated, health and wellbeing improved, overseas investment in the UK increased and foreign exchange generated, our cultural and natural assets appreciated and celebrated, and Britain’s contribution and place in the world acknowledged – we must invest, politically and financially.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

www.visitbritain.com