At a speech in Blackpool today at the White Tower, George Osborne set out our plans for a revitalised tourism industry in the UK.
The tourism industry is worth £114 billion to the UK economy every year, employs some 8% of the workforce and is our 5th largest industry. It supports 200,000 businesses. We know how much it matters to Blackpool and Cleveleys.
However under Labour tourism has been let down. We have had 8 Ministers responsible for tourism in just 12 years, accountability and decision making have been devolved to quangos, and Visit England has been neglected. This vital sector of our economy deserves better.
Our plans to help the tourism sector include:
- Lowering the rate to corporation tax for SMEs to 20p by reducing complex reliefs. Over 80% of tourism businesses are SMEs, so this will give the sector a huge boost.
- Reducing the burden of red tape with a ‘one in one out’ approach to new regulations, as well as mandatory sunset clauses.
- Ensuring that no new business started in the first 2 years of a Conservative government will pay Employer National Insurance on the first 10 employees it hires during its first year.
- Building a network of business mentors, and providing loans to would-be tourism entrepreneurs.
- Taking action to undo the damage caused by Labour’s abolition of tax relief on Furnished Holiday Lets, which according to the Tourism Alliance could result in the loss of 4500 jobs.
Together, these plans will ensure a much-needed boost to the British tourism sector. We want to attract more visitors from the lucrative emerging market countries in the Middle East and China. And we want to increase the proportion of UK residents’ tourism spend that goes on domestic holidays from 38% to 50%.
At the end of George’s speech, I was pleased to take the Shadow Cabinet Member responsible for tourism, Jeremy Hunt, up to King Edward Avenue to meet the excellent group of hoteliers up there who make the street such a credit to the resort. They are ambitious and forward-thinking – and demonstrated to Jeremy just why they are also award-winning.
Another good day for Blackpool Conservatives as we lay out a future for Blackpool and Cleveleys – just as Labour spent another day navel-gazing over who they want to stand as a candidate.
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