A Green Vision for Heritage & Tourism

On Sunday 12th January 2025, as Policy Development Lead for Heritage & Tourism at The Green Party for England & Wales, I had the opportunity to share the fruits of the past 18 months' work with colleagues, which will result in the drafting of a policy for approval by conference later this year.

A journey which has involved a truly national conversation, working with heritage organisations and visitor attractions and tourism organisations and businesses across England & Wales, representative bodies, tourism and heritage officers in local government, funders and residents, members, visitors and tourists. The draft policy acknowledges and celebrates the fact that Heritage and Tourism rank among the top 5 to 10 economic sectors, depending on the metrics used (GDP, employment, or regional impact), recognises their social and cultural value and significance and interconnectivity and reaffirms our commitment to ensuring that they become more resilient, sustainable, inclusive, innovative, and thrive and that they remain balanced with the right of us all to a healthy and sustainable environment, economy, and social life.

A wide-ranging document which provides details of changes we would like to see at a national level, in Whitehall, the role of heritage and tourism in driving economic regeneration and growth, our thoughts on changes to the planning system, the breadth of financial assistance and incentives we would offer, our support for responsible tourism, how we would address skills shortages, the role of heritage in promoting wellbeing and in raising civic pride, and specific proposals to protect and preserve the integrity of our market towns and cathedral cities, the countryside and our proposals to reverse the decline of our coastal towns, to name but a few.

If you would welcome the opportunity to contribute, exploring potential initiatives and interventions which would support our heritage and tourism sectors and which would also serve to enrich society both economically and socially, or simply to vent your frustrations about this and previous administrations, and especially nonsense such as the increase in Employers National Insurance which we are committed to reversing, please feel free to get in touch with me on 07771 953959 or via email at [email protected].