MINISTERS BACK ENGLISH TOURISM COUNCIL'S TRANSPORT STRATEGY
MINISTERS BACK ENGLISH TOURISM COUNCIL'S TRANSPORT STRATEGY Tourism Minister Kim Howells and Transport Minister Sally Keeble today welcomed the English Tourism Council's new strategy to improve the quality of tourism travel in England. Tourism and Transport - The Issues and Solutions warns that unless the capacity of our existing transport infrastructure can be increased, tourists in England are more and more likely to face congestion on all modes of transport. The strategy puts forward a 16-point action plan, which begins with a better understanding of tourism and travel. Welcoming the report, Tourism Minister Kim Howells said: "To explore our beautiful countryside, visit our wonderful castles and see our towns and villages it is essential that we have an efficient and reliable transport system. Good transport networks and a healthy tourism industry go hand in hand. That's why Government, local authorities, transport providers and tourism businesses need to work together to help Britain's valuable tourists to get around. I welcome the ETC's report; it highlights the challenges facing our transport network and emphasises the importance of taking tourists into account as transport infrastructure is upgraded and modernised." Attending the "Tourism Without Traffic" Conference in Birmingham today, Transport Minister Sally Keeble said: "This report acknowledges the importance of the private car but also that efficient, reliable and affordable alternatives are needed to encourage people out of their cars and to explore different modes of transport. ETC has put forward some excellent ideas to reduce private vehicle use and sets out actions which will be key to the future development of tourism in England from a transport perspective". Further information from: Debbie Holden, Rebecca Milton ETC Press Office on 020 8563 3354 or Ken Kelling on 0208 563 3037. Notes Tourism and Transport - The Issues and Solutions was produced with assistance from the ETC Transport Task Force chaired by ETC Board member Jennifer Robson OBE. The report is available price £15.00 plus p&p from ETC Fulfilment tel: 0208 563 3276 or 0870 606 7204. The "Tourism Without Traffic" Conference, organised by Transport 2000 takes place on Thursday 13 September 2001 at the Austin Court Conference Centre, Birmingham B1. Downloadable maps from the English Tourism Council, showing an analysis of major tourist traffic flows and bottlenecks, are available to view at: www.englishtourism.org.uk/downloads/press/air.pdf www.englishtourism.org.uk/downloads/press/issues.pdf www.englishtourism.org.uk/downloads/press/entry.pdf www.englishtourism.org.uk/downloads/press/rail.pdf www.englishtourism.org.uk/downloads/press/road.pdf Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the English Tourism Council's role is to help set a strategic direction for English tourism, which recognises the importance of such inter-related activities as travel. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/13/20010913BIT00540/bit0001.DOC http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/09/13/20010913BIT00540/bit0001.pdf