New UK Universal Studios theme park near Cambridgeshire could bring tourism boost

Ministers hope a new Universal Studios theme park near Cambridgeshire will start a 'dramatic' change in UK tourism, Sir Chris Bryant has said. The creative industries minister said he wanted to see more foreign tourists venturing beyond London and exploring other parts of the UK.

Blake Stephenson, the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, told MPs that the proposed 476-acre resort south of Bedford "could be the key to unlock the Government's growth mission" in the region. Speaking in Westminster Hall, Sir Chris said he would not "enter into the specifics" of ongoing discussions about the site, saying: "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. 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."

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Universal has five entertainment and resort complexes globally, including Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood in the US, Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Universal Beijing Resort in China, and Universal Studios Singapore. The proposed UK venue would be located on the planned East West Rail route, a proposed railway connecting Oxford to Cambridge, which received government backing in Chancellor Rachel Reeves' October Budget.

Sir Chris said the railway could unlock "tens of thousands of new homes and jobs" and boost tourism in the region. He added: "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 Stephenson, who tabled Tuesday's debate on tourism 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 percent 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."