Ministers hope for tourism boost with Bedfordshire Universal Studios resort

Ministers hope they will achieve the “dramatic” change to UK tourism which a new Universal Studios theme park would bring, Sir Chris Bryant has said.

The creative industries minister said he wanted to see fewer foreign tourists stick to London when they visit the UK, holidaying elsewhere instead.

Blake Stephenson, the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, told MPs that the planned 476-acre resort south of Bedford “could be the key to unlock the Government’s growth mission” in his region.

Speaking in Westminster Hall, Sir Chris declined to “enter into the specifics” of ongoing discussions about the site, adding: “That would be unhelpful to everybody.

“But I am very hopeful that we will be able to get to the very significant and dramatic change that this would make not only to visitor numbers in Bedfordshire but for the whole of the United Kingdom.”

The minister continued: “Of course, we should be ambitious for the whole of the United Kingdom when it comes to our tourism strategy but it would be counterproductive if every single person who came from overseas to this country – and we’ve still not got up to the numbers that we had reached before Covid – it would be counterproductive if every single person who came to the United Kingdom decided that they were only going to visit London, and didn’t even get to Bedfordshire.”

Universal has five entertainment and resort complexes around the world – Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood in the USA, Universal Studios Japan (Osaka), Universal Beijing Resort in China and Universal Studios Singapore.

Its proposed UK venue would lie along the East West Rail route, a proposed Oxford to Cambridge railway which the Government has backed as part of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ October Budget.

Sir Chris said the railway could unlock “tens of thousands of new homes and jobs”, which in turn could bolster the region’s tourism sector.

He said: “You could also say in relation to tourism, if you’re going to have a very significant expansion of the tourism industry or the visitor economy industry in Bedfordshire, you’re actually going to need houses where people are able to live who are going to work in that industry as well.”

Mr Stepheson, who tabled Tuesday’s debate about tourism in Bedfordshire, had earlier said: “Where what used to be the world’s largest brickworks site at Stewartby in my constituency – once fired the bricks that built our nation – now it has the potential to power our local economy again as the home of the Universal UK theme park project.

“Backed by 92% of local people and local leaders from all parties, a £50 billion boost for our local economy, bringing around 20,000 jobs for local people but also crucially offering us an opportunity to turbocharge our local tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors, with potentially 12 million more visitors in our area every year.

“That’s a gamechanger, bringing millions more visitors to Bedfordshire to stay in our communities and see all that we have to offer.

“Universal could be the key to unlock the Government’s growth mission in Bedfordshire.”