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• Reference: 2015/3558
• Question by: Andrew Dismore
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

What work are you doing on bringing a Formula 1 race to London?

• Question by: Andrew Boff
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Andrew Boff AM: Will you ensure that anyone you go into a commercial relationship with in the hospitality industry has an up‑to‑date slavery and human trafficking statement, as required by the Modern Slavery Act [2015]?

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Murad Qureshi AM: Following on from Tony [Arbour AM], sometimes in central London it feels like tourists have taken over the world. I am pretty keen to see tourists - and I think a lot of residents of central London are - spread around outer London. Are you really doing enough on that front? Take, for example, the last time I came back on the Eurostar from Europe. It was a train full of mostly Japanese and Chinese tourists. There were advertisements on the Tannoy for them to go to Madame Tussauds and the London Dungeon. That is the kind...

• Question by: Joanne McCartney
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Joanne McCartney AM: I wanted to follow up and pick up on an issue you talked about earlier, Sir Edward, about the cost of hotels and staying in London, particularly with regard to families and promoting London as a family‑friendly city. Obviously, with families, costs do rack up. Can I ask what steps you are taking to maintain London’s status as a family‑friendly city? Have you seen any evidence of a change in the nature of tourists, perhaps with the costs particularly of accommodation, and a shift from families to other travellers?

• Question by: Navin Shah
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Navin Shah AM: The Olympic Orbit Tower is losing something like £10,000 per week because of visitor numbers. They have fallen below the projected forecast. Are you doing enough to promote tourism in east London?

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Richard Tracey AM: I must say that all the foreign visitors I talk to, whether I know them well or not, complain about the large numbers in central London now. It is a buzzy city but it is also, they feel, very crowded, extremely busy and quite tiring. This is a well‑targeted question that Tony Arbour [AM] has put to you about outer London. Can I ask you what you are doing particularly? How much are you spending to encourage people to take a river cruise? Indeed, they will reach Tony Arbour’s constituency. Tony Arbour AM (Deputy Chairman): They will...

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Roger Evans AM: Should tourists become bored with Richmond eventually, of course, they can travel ‑‑ Tony Arbour AM (Deputy Chairman): Tired of Richmond? Roger Evans AM: No doubt at an advanced age by that time, they can travel east to sample the delights of outer east London. One of the great things about outer London for tourists, of course, is that it is less polluted and less noisy than inner London. It provides a bit of a haven for them. Do you think that airport expansion plans could put this in danger?

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Valerie Shawcross CBE AM: Given the comments you made earlier about the importance of major events and sporting events, do you not think that the last‑minute withdrawal from the Tour de France Grand Depart, a decision that was taken at the end of September, damaged not just our relationship with France and our good reputation as an events host but also was a rather big loss of tourist promotion opportunities? Do you not think that was a very un-coordinated and badly made decision?

• Question by: Andrew Dismore
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Andrew Dismore AM: I would like to follow up on some of the similar issues, actually. Sir Edward, looking firstly at the student visa issue, you have talked about universities. However, in July 2015, the Government also tightened the rules affecting further education (FE) students by, for example, limiting the length of a visa to two years instead of three. You have made a point about how you have made representations to the Government - or the Mayor has - but, presumably, you do not seem to have achieved very much in that we still had these changes coming in...

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 04 November 2015

Richard Tracey AM: Can I just ask you one or two more questions about the European dimension? It is right, is it not, that more Americans visit London as a tourist destination than any other European city? Is it also not correct that there is more trade done by this country - and by London, obviously - with Asia and with the Americas than, indeed, with Europe? My question to you, really, is: are you intending to ask a specific question in any survey you do of tourists particularly about the attractions of London as opposed to Europe or in...