Prime Minister David Cameron has delivered a speech in central London on the challenges and opportunities that tourism presents. He calls London “the most internationally visited city in the world”.
He said, “Domestic and overseas visitors put an estimated £115bn a year into the UK. Foreign visitors’ spending could almost double from £16bn to £31bn by 2020, according to Visit Britain.”
He has pledged to make Britain one of the top five tourist destinations in the world. Mr Cameron said the income generated from the £115 billion-a-year tourism sector was “fundamental” to rebuilding the UK’s economy.
Of course he did not mention inclusive tourism but as the shadow culture secretary Ben Bradshaw said: “If David Cameron wishes to further improve Britain’s offering for tourists, perhaps he should come up with some constructive policy measures, rather than weak gags about losing to Germany at football.”
What about having policy measures for inclusive tourism, David Cameron? How accessible do you think London is? Are you increasing the number of accessible hotel rooms? And I am not even thinking of 2012 – I do not think that there is an adequate provision of accessible accommodation for domestic tourists let alone foreign tourists.
Read his full speech at the No 10 Website. The BBC report is at the BBC news website.
David Cameron
