TAKE TOURISM SERIOUSLY CAMPAIGN AND THE OLYMPIC GAMES

That this House supports the Tourism Alliance in its Take Tourism Seriously campaign; notes that tourism is worth £85 billion to the UK economy; further notes that tourism is one of the UK's largest industries, employing over two million people; expresses great concern that the Government has cut funding for VisitBritain over the last decade and most recently by £9 million over the next three years; believes that this is part of a larger picture of the downgrading of tourism's importance to national policy; and urges the Government not to squander the opportunities provided by the 2012 Olympic Games to leave behind a strong tourism legacy for the UK.