St Austell Brewery has lauded the Government’s commitment to the tourism and hospitality industry.

The brewery has joined the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) in support of a new Tourism Sector Deal commitment from the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The deal will focus on ensuring tourism and hospitality is a career for life, keeping the UK as the most accessible tourism industry in the world and sharing data and increasing accommodation capacity.

Responding to the commitment, brewery chief executive, James Staughton, said: “It has long been one of my ambitions to help make the south west, and Cornwall in particular, a place where young people can aspire to lifelong and successful careers without having to leave the region.

“Working with partners such as Truro and Penwith College and on apprenticeship schemes such as our chef scholarships are an important part of we have been doing to work towards this end and it is very reassuring to see support from the Government and VisitBritain on what could be a milestone deal for our industry and our region.”

While the final deal has yet to be secured, BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmonds commented: “After a lot of very hard work to secure this deal for our industry, this is a great vote of confidence from the Government in our sector. Pubs are third on the list of things to do for overseas visitors to the UK; seven out of ten visit a pub whilst they are here.

“As we prepare to leave the European Union, we must concentrate on making our sector one of choice for employees. Recruitment and retention are vital when, as it stands, 24% of our employees come from overseas, rising to over 80% in metropolitan areas.”