To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much was spent by (a) his Department, (b) regional development agencies and (c) local authorities on marketing the UK as a tourist destination in each of the last three years. (171677)

[holding answer 5 December 2007]: CMS has allocated the following amounts to marketing the UK and its constituent parts:

Regional development agencies are not asked to account specifically for there expenditure on tourism marketing. Their definitions are therefore not consistent and reliable. They have, however, provided us with the following estimates of expenditure:

The £1.9 million a year in grant in aid from DCMS to the London Development Agency is included in these figures.

An additional £3.6 million a year in DCMS grant in aid was made available to the regional development agencies for each of these years for tourism support These amounts were not earmarked specifically for marketing.

It is not possible to provide figures for local authorities. Most local authorities across the UK support their local tourism industries through marketing and promotional spending. This is not, however, recorded separately from investment in general tourism support.