Tourism minister: ensuring tourism benefits the whole country

While British tourism has faced some recent hurdles, from the pandemic to inflation, the UK is still the seventh most-visited country in the world. From spectacular countryside to historic seaside towns and cities packed with culture and art, it’s no wonder why.

As the Tourism Minister in a new government, I want us to not only recover from recent challenges, but become a leading destination at the top of everyone’s bucket lists, rivalling the likes of France.

To achieve this, tourism must benefit the whole country. I want to make sure that more of the tourists who come to the UK don’t just go to London.

I live in a town called Porth in Wales, which means “gateway”. We need to make sure that the UK’s gateways really work in enabling people to go elsewhere, from Devon to Aberdeen.

Take arriving at an airport as an example. What do you see? What does it feel like? How easy is your onward journey? We need to think through the whole tourist experience, from the second somebody arrives in the UK until the moment they leave.

Next, we must exploit our heritage better. We probably have more castles and historic buildings than anywhere else in Europe. But how do we tell their story in a way that is interesting to parents as well as their teenage kids? We’ve got to find a way of showing that visiting the UK is not just about what we were like under Henry VIII.

Our cultural offering is second-to-none. Framlingham Castle in Suffolk is now world-famous because of Ed Sheeran’s song Castle on the Hill. People flock to the Black Country Living Museum because that’s where they filmed Peaky Blinders. Our music festivals - I don’t just mean Glastonbury - are a huge draw. How do we translate that soft power into more visitors?

I have a strong connection to the tourism industry, because my dad was one of the first Brits to go and work in Spain in the 1950s. He worked in a hotel, learning Spanish and organising bus trips for people from the Welsh valleys to go to the Costa Brava.

So I know it is a fantastic sector to work in. One of my priorities is to get more people considering jobs in tourism. Not just a part-time role whilst at school, college or university - but a rewarding, lifelong career. There are lots of other countries that do this better. Already we have launched Skills England, which is bringing together government, training providers and businesses to explore how to give young people a better chance in life and in industries like tourism.

There is much more to achieve in 2025. The sector needs cohesive leadership. We are progressing work to transform tourist boards across the country to help them bring in more investment. And to help provide the best tourist accommodation possible while protecting people’s right to affordable housing, we will introduce a registration scheme for short-term lets.

Tourism is full of awe-inspiring places and talented, hard-working people, but for too long they have been overlooked. It is my mission to turn this around to make the UK the best tourist destination in the world.

Sir Chris Bryant, MP
Tourism Minister