Local MP John Penrose, a former Tourism Minister himself, today welcomed the new Tourism Sector Deal, which will benefit hundreds of local businesses in one of the most important sectors of Weston’s economy.
The deal will add 10,000 new apprenticeships and mentorship schemes to improve skills, standards and careers opportunities across the sector, plus provide a new tourism data hub so firms can easily spot the latest trends and spending patterns for their target visitors.
John said: “Weston’s brilliant beach and local attractions mean visitors will always be an important source of jobs and economic growth for us. Lots of people got their first summer job in a local tourism firm, and many go on to exciting international careers running hotels, restaurants and attractions all around the world.
“The new apprenticeships and mentoring schemes should improve those career opportunities even further, and the data hub ought to be a goldmine for creative, entrepreneurial tourism businesses who want to impress their customers with new ideas too. Now it’s over to local businesses to take advantage of the support, and bring even more visitors to sunny Weston!”
Notes
- The Tourism Sector Deal, part of the Government’s modern Industrial Strategy, will deliver 10,000 new apprenticeships for young people nationwide in the sector and create a new tourism data hub, allowing industry to access up to the minute data to better attract visitors.
- Tourism contributes £68 billion to the British economy. In 2016, the economic output of the tourism industry in the UK was £68 billion, 6 per cent of total UK economic output (House of Commons Library, Tourism statistics and policy, 2 January 2019, link).
- The number of visits to the UK is at an all-time high. In 2017, there were 39.2 million visits to the UK, up from 29.8 million in 2010 (Visit Britain, 2017 snapshot, accessed 23 April 2019, link).