To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the latest figures on visitor bed nights in (a) England and (b) Dorset.

The latest available figures for visitor nights in Dorset and in England are from 1991:

	million
England	449·3
Dorset	18·8

1991 was a generally disappointing year for the domestic tourism industry, largely because of exceptional factors such as the Gulf war. Full figures for 1992 are not yet available, but it is already clear that there was a significant recovery in the numbers of visitors, particularly those from overseas.