Source · Select Committees · Culture, Media and Sport Committee
Recommendation 26
26
Accepted
The Government should make the Tourism Minister a full-time position.
Recommendation
The Government should make the Tourism Minister a full-time position. We are open- minded as to which department the minister should be placed in, but it is crucial that their views should carry significant weight across all relevant departments, particularly the Home Office, HM Treasury and the Department for Transport. (Paragraph 99) Promoting Britain abroad 37
Government Response Summary
The government states it already has a full-time Minister responsible for tourism within a broader portfolio and highlights the Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on the Visitor Economy as an established governance mechanism.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The Government has a full time Minister responsible for tourism, within a broader portfolio. Tourism is a significant contributor to the UK economy, with inbound travel and tourism being the UK’s third largest services export in 2019. As such, ambitions to promote growth and improve the productivity of the sector are reliant on agreement from a number of Ministers, supported by government officials and representatives from industry. The Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) on the Visitor Economy, chaired and championed by DCMS’s Secretary of State, provides an established governance mechanism across government. Attended by 11 government departments, the IMG facilitates wider discussions to find solutions that help support the Visitor Economy, which in turn can help support the objectives of other departments and convene cross-government interests on foundational matters such as levelling up and growth. Furthermore, the IMG is supported by the joint public/ private sector Tourism Industry Council, which is supporting the Government in delivering the Tourism Recovery Plan. The Council and its four working groups collectively consider the challenges and opportunities presented by the Visitor Economy. Thematically, these groups hold discussions around Accessibility and Inclusion, International Competitiveness and Demand, the Events Industry, and Sustainability, as well as live issues facing the sector. These issues are then taken forward for discussion with Ministers at the IMG. In this way, strategic advice is considered by government officials and used to support decisions made by the Minister.