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MEP calls for more help for £8 billion London tourist industry
October 8, 2001 12:00 AM
The London tourist industry, worth £8 billion per year and which employs 275,000 people throughout the capital, needs to be helped through its present crisis, according to London's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP, Baroness Sarah Ludford.
She said:
"The Government revealed to me earlier in the summer that they expect the tourist industry in London to be hit by a £1.3bn drop in spending because of the Foot & Mouth outbreak.
"Following the tragic and terrible events in the United States on Tuesday 11th September, tourism is suffering even more. With 80% of tourist companies in our country enjoying a turnover of less than £250,000 per year, many firms face going to the wall if the downturn is deep or long-term.
"The Government must offer these companies, many family-run, with help to get through these difficult times. If the Government does not, it will put 275,000 jobs at risk. It must not let that happen."
The MEP has written to tourism minister, Dr Kim Howells MP, making these very points. She will also be tabling a series of parliamentary questions in the House of Lords when it returns later this month from its Summer Recess.
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