• 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 21 October 2015

Richard Tracey AM: Mr Mayor, can you tell us how far advanced the Garden Bridge project will be by next May when you leave office? Do you have any idea?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 21 October 2015

Roger Evans AM: In Havering and Redbridge we are now experiencing TfL management of the railway line that is going to become Crossrail. It runs in to Liverpool Street. It is quite interesting because we are seeing a lot more of a proactive attitude on the part of the staff there than there was before TfL took over. For example, we have very crowded trains and what they do now in the morning is they stand next to the trains and tell the passengers to move down inside the cars, which no one did on that service before. However, it...

• Question by: Richard Tracey
• Meeting date: 21 October 2015

Richard Tracey AM: Thank you. Mr Mayor, I travel regularly through some of these major stations that Val [Valerie Shawcross CBE AM] has mentioned - Waterloo, London Bridge, Victoria - and some have visitor centres, others do not. However, what I do see is a lot of TfL staff out on the concourse being helpful and indeed checking the barriers to make sure that people can use them or are using them properly. In the programme of modernisation that TfL has initiated, one station in my constituency, Morden, is in line for pretty considerable regeneration and modernisation. Surely at a...