Tourism: North East

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the average spend per head per day of domestic tourists visiting the North East in each of the last five years. (184902)

The table shows the average expenditure per trip and per night for domestic overnight trips to the North East region for the latest five years.

*North East: average expenditure*¹ *of domestic overnight tourists* ²
	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Average spend per trip³	181	172	180	177	159
Average spend per night³	65	62	66	61	57
¹ Expenditure includes items such as package holidays, accommodation, travel to and from the destination and during the trip, services and advice, buying clothes, eating and drinking out, shopping, entertainment and other items relating to the trip. ² The methodology for the UKTS changed in 2005 meaning that comparisons with previous years should be treated with caution. This change occurred as a result of concerns with the quality of 2004 data, which is thought to be an under-representation of the true position. ³ Figures are rounded. Source: UK Tourism Survey (National Tourist Boards)

Also, average expenditure during tourism day visits made to, or within, the North East was £25.40 in 2002-03 (source: Leisure Day Visits Survey). It is not possible to provide a time series for this information as the surveys are run intermittently and on a non-consistent basis; therefore, this is our best estimate for this period.

Volume 472: debated on Thursday 21 February 2008