ABTA has unveiled a new paper focussing on how tourism can create more jobs in the UK. The document entitled “Valuing the UK’s Tourism Mix” was launched yesterday evening at a reception in the House of Commons with speeches from the current Tourism Minister Hugh Robertson MP, John Penrose MP and Mark Tanzer, CEO ABTA. Over 150 MPs and leading industry figures were in attendance. 

In “Valuing the UK’s Tourism Mix”, ABTA calls on the Government to recognise the importance to the UK economy of all three sectors of the tourism industry: domestic, outbound, and inbound. The paper details how the three sectors are linked and outlines four key priorities for the Government to create jobs and growth in the industry as a whole. These are:  

1. Strategic infrastructure support.
    
2. Creating a more competitive product.
    
3. Good regulation for confident customers and businesses.
    
4. Promotion of travel and tourism as a key employer.

The paper furthers ABTA’s work in Parliament since launching the ABTA Manifesto in 2010, and aims to build momentum in Parliament in support of domestic, outbound, and inbound tourism businesses and their job-creating potential.

Minister for Tourism, Hugh Robertson MP said: “The tourism sector makes a significant contribution to our national and local economies and the Government is determined to support the industry so that it can grow further. We welcome ABTA’s input to this debate and will continue to work with our tourism partners to help create jobs and deliver growth to the UK economy.”

John Penrose MP added: “Tourism is an industry like no other, with a potential to drive growth and jobs which never ceases to amaze me. It can offer international careers in big corporations or the chance to get rich working for yourself in a local start up or anything in between. We should be aiming for better skills, higher productivity, cutting costs where we can by getting rid of red tape, and creative marketing. These are all easy things to say, but hard to deliver. Government can’t – and probably shouldn’t – do it all but this paper shows the travel industry is taking the lead in making it happen.”

Mark Tanzer, CEO ABTA said: “Tourism is the UK’s fifth largest industry and has enormous potential to help create jobs and economic growth. The Government has an important role to play in ensuring businesses can continue to deliver a competitive product to a confident consumer base. Focusing Government support on just one part of what is a highly integrated industry is not an effective solution – it is policies that cut across the UK’s tourism mix to provide an economic boost to the whole industry that will deliver the jobs and growth we know tourism is capable of.”