The newly formed Parliamentary Group is being assisted by the Family Holiday Association, which works to help disadvantaged families get much needed breaks away from home. The group called for views and experience from a number of sources, the South West Tourism Alliance being one of them, when they launched their inquiry into the social and economic impacts of social tourism in May.
South West Tourism Alliance developed a written submission to the inquiry - which was based on information received from all Alliance members and members of the wider tourism sector. The Parliamentary group responded to say that the submission was ‘a thorough and illuminating piece of evidence and will make an important contribution to shaping of the final report'.
Based on this the South West Tourism Alliance was invited to an oral evidence session, during which questions were put by a small panel of Group members including chair, Paul Maynard MP.
Jamie Christon, South West Tourism Alliance Spokesperson said ‘The South West Tourism Alliance is an ideal route for these types of consultations, and for us to be asked to submit evidence to an inquiry of this nature, based on the quality of our response, is really good news. The Alliance is here to give expert advice and to represent the views of South West England's tourism industry - and I am delighted that at such an early stage of development the Alliance it is already recognised as an industry leader'
At the session, the Parliamentary group sought greater detail on views, opinions and activities in relation to social tourism and recognised that the continued participation of the South West Tourism Alliance ‘will significantly benefit our inquiry and represent an important contribution to the debate on the future of social tourism'.
Andy Jasper, Head of Research and Evaluation at the Eden Project, and Research Lead for the South West Tourism Alliance , said ‘We are delighted that the Family Holiday Association is moving this important issue forward and that we can provide case studies of best practice from members of the South West Tourism Alliance in the House of Commons. This debate will be informed by good examples from the South West and it is great that work that often ticks along quietly in the background of places like the Eden Project to increase equity of access will be understood. This will hopefully give other businesses confidence to collaborate and grow more such initiatives'
Andy added ‘Confidence will come from increased understanding of the positive social and economic impacts of this work. Rigorous and sensitive research needs to therefore be embedded into any work this area in the UK. It currently isn't.'
Key points will appear soon on the South West Tourism Alliance Linkedin page soon and we welcome suggestions and discussion.
Date added: Friday 10th June 2011
Latest updated: Thursday 8th March 2012
