To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans she has to promote the South West tourist industry in the coming year. [36721]
Government support for tourism is channelled through the statutory British Tourist Authority and English tourist board. Through the ETB, support is made available to the 11 non-statutory regional tourist boards, including the West Country tourist board, which helps them undertake a variety of marketing and development activities of benefit to the tourism industry in their regions. The WCTB received a subvention of £614,073 from the ETB in 1994–95.
Tourism in south west England will also benefit from the overseas marketing work of the BTA and from the action programme announced earlier this year in my Department's document, "Tourism: Competing with the Best".
To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proportion of each English region's economy is estimated to be generated by the tourist sector. [36717]
Figures for tourism's contribution to each region's economy are not available. However, the figures for the number of employees in tourism-related industries, when shown as a proportion of the total number of employees in employment, give an indication of the importance of tourism in that region. The figures provided are for the latest month available and have been calculated on a new basis following changes to the standard employment classifications. The figures for each English region at June 1995 were:
| Number of employees in tourism related industries | Total number of employees in employment | Percentage of total employed in tourism related industries Percentage | |
| Greater London | 229,000 | 3,189,000 | 7 |
| Rest of South East | 264,000 | 3,914,000 | 7 |
| South West | 151,000 | 1,762,000 | 9 |
| East Anglia | 52,000 | 819,000 | 6 |
| North | 83,000 | 1,090,000 | 8 |
| North West | 169,000 | 2,284,000 | 7 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | 135,000 | 1,854,000 | 7 |
| East Midlands | 102,000 | 1,527,000 | 7 |
| West Midlands | 118,000 | 1,979,000 | 6 |