Sunday, 29th March 2009
Scots MEP ‘goes back to the floor’ to support tourism
Scots Tory MEP, Struan Stevenson, has been waiting tables at the Millennium Hotel, Glasgow to show his support for Scotland’s tourism industry during British Tourism Week.
Mr Stevenson met with hotel staff on Friday 27th March 2009 and served up refreshments to the hotel’s guests.
This event took place as part of British Tourism Week 2009, a national event which is raising awareness of the size, value and importance of Britain’s £114 billion visitor economy which sustains over 2.6 million jobs in the UK (directly and indirectly).
Mr Stevenson said:
“I very much enjoyed waiting on guests at the Millennium Hotel. It’s not something I have done since I was a student, when I made such a mess of it I was sent to work in the kitchens instead, so I am pleased today went well!
“The economic benefit Scotland achieves from tourism is around £4.2 billion per year. The tourist sector maintains around 220,000 full and part-time jobs in Scotland. The opportunities for developing the value of tourism in this area are great, particularly in the run-up to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2016. Because of the current recession, more people are choosing to holiday in Britain rather than pursue a more costly trip overseas. We need to exploit this opportunity to flag up Scotland as the premier destination for a UK holiday. We must also do more to ensure this focus on domestic tourism is not a temporary phenomenon."
Richard Mayne, General Manager at The Millennium Hotel said:
“Mr Stevenson’s visit has highlighted the importance of tourism to the Scottish economy, both in generating substantial amounts of revenue but also in the number of jobs it supports.”
British Tourism Week takes place from 23-29 March 2009. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is patron of British Tourism Week and his involvement will help raise the profile of the week and of the tourism industry.
BTW is organised by VisitBritain with the support of the Tourism Alliance, the Tourism Society, the UK’s regional and national tourist boards and representatives of the industry.
