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24/03/2025

Sonia Kumar calls for support for tourism in Dudley

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00:00under your chairmanship. I'd like to congratulate the honourable member of

00:04Bedfordshire for bringing forward this important debate today. If members are

00:08thinking about where to visit in Easter holidays or the summer holidays that are

00:12approach, I have a location in mind. It's somewhere where you can pick up a fossil,

00:17you can get a boat trip, where you can see the sets of Peaky Blinders where it was

00:22shot, or you can feed the giraffes. And if you need any more clues, it's the heart

00:27of the Industrial Revolution. And if some of the members are still guessing,

00:30then I have one answer. Dudley. From the Dudley Zoo and Castle to the Black

00:36Country Loving Museum, and of course the historic canals and caverns at the

00:40Dudley Canal, where you can enjoy a leisurely boat trip or enjoy the beauty

00:45of the canals as you go from the Pitch Regress walk. Dudley Borough has 9.6

00:50million visitors a year in 2023, and a visitor economy of 447 million. And

00:57Dudley has something to offer for everybody. The tourism sector in Dudley

01:02has also supported a wide range of jobs, from retail to zoology, to site managers

01:07to tour guides, and it's an integral part of society and the fabric of Dudley.

01:12Therefore I think it's time we push forward a plan to revitalise and further

01:17extend this industry with a fresh start. But I must stress that plans to talk

01:23about tourism can't just be in hotspots like London or coastal towns, but also in

01:28towns that are rich in culture and history. For example, the Black Country

01:33Living Museum, which has carefully reconstructed shops, houses and

01:37industrial areas that represent the Black Country history. And it was a

01:42pleasure to hear that they had a record-breaking year in 2023 with 380

01:47hundred thousand visitors and 53 students and pupils. So Mr. Chairman, I

01:53want to say more visitors come to Dudley, but not just for the day, but also to

01:58stay overnight and expand the night-time economy, so that our bars, restaurants can

02:03benefit from fantastic offerings that the tourism industry can offer. Their

02:07nature of supporting the tourism sector, that is every one pound spent, it's

02:13multiplied by visitors spending money on attractions, restaurants, hotels,

02:18bars and taxis around the country and around the borough. And I believe that

02:24it's a remarkable opportunity that Dudley has to offer at the moment, which

02:28is in the Black Country and the Canal Trust. There's a unique area from the

02:33Dudley Canal and Caverns to the Wren's Nest, which is a proposed plan by the Dudley

02:40Canal and Caverns. It would be great to connect both areas, which is a UNESCO

02:44World Heritage Site and where you can take a fossil home and it's a secret gem

02:48from the Black Country Museum to the canals and then to the

02:54Wren's Nest. And it's prehistoric geology and nature is actually a beauty to be

02:58seen and I believe that it should be more connected. The project is estimated

03:03to attract half a million tourists in the first eight years of opening if it

03:07would be completed. So Mr. Chairman, it's uncharitable to see Dudley from a

03:11different lens. We're places of new meet old and it's crucial that we recognise

03:17the value of the entire ecosystem from small businesses, hotels, restaurants and

03:22larger attractions. But we need the government support to ensure that we

03:26have the resources infrastructure to succeed.

03:28Exaggeration in the tourism industry will come if we don't invest and

03:34there's far too many empty shops in Dudley Town Centre that I believe will

03:38be supported by the tourism industry and which will attract more

03:44business to open. So to finish, I have two simple requests to the Minister. Firstly,

03:49will the Minister meet with me to discuss the fantastic project from Wren's

03:53Nest to the Dudley Canal to boost tourism in Dudley? And secondly, will the

03:57Minister work closely with our regional towns?

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