TOURISM AND SMALL BUSINESSES

That this House recognises that the UK's tourism industry contributed over 115 billion to the UK economy in 2009; notes that the Federation of Small Businesses has recently released a report that calls for more to be done to unlock the potential of the sector; believes that responsibility for tourism should be passed from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to the Department for Business, Innnovation and Skills; further believes there is an urgent need to reinstate funding for the promotion of tourism in the regions; and calls for more to be done to make the UK more internationally competitive in comparison to other leading tourism destinations.