asked Her Majesty's Government:Following the launch of a sports tourism initiative by the British Tourist Authority with their support on 11 January, what budget they have allocated to the authority over and above their existing budget for 2000 so that they may successfully launch an international marketing campaign to attract more sports tourists to the United Kingdom and fund the operation of a sports tourism forum. [HL536]
The Government have no plans to increase the amount of grant-in-aid provided to the BTA in order to make extra funding available for its sports tourism strategy. The BTA is receiving £36 mill] on of grant-in-aid in 1999–2000 and £37 million in 2000–01 and its work on the sports tourism strategy is being accommodated within these budgets.