Thank you for the opportunity to speak today at the Tourism Alliance Annual Conference. I want to begin by thanking Emma and Eddy for the invitation. It is a pleasure to stand here today as the relatively new Minister for Tourism and to see so many familiar faces in the room.

I was thrilled when I was asked to take on the role and I obviously have my own experience of the sector…with many happy memories of holidays growing up in Devon and Cornwall.

And while my constituency of Barnsley may not (not yet anyway) be a tourism hotspot, I recognise how the tourism sector supports Barnsley to be the thriving town it is, whether bringing in visitors to the Worsbrough Mill, Cannon Hall, Cooper Gallery, Elsecar Heritage Centre or nearby Yorkshire Sculpture Park.

I also see a strong link between

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