Abta joins trade opposition to tourist tax in England

Abta today (Tuesday) added its weight to growing opposition to a tourism levy in England.

 

The association’s intervention comes amid concern across the industry about the overall competitiveness of English travel and tourism.

 

The Business Travel Association, Global Business Travel Association and the Institute of Travel Management also submitted a joint response last week to the government’s overnight visitor levy consultation.

 

They urged policymakers to explicitly exempt business travel from any new tourism levies.

 

The consultation forms part of the government’s exploration of granting mayors of strategic authorities new powers to raise local revenues through visitor levies to fund infrastructure, cultural projects and regeneration initiatives.

 

While all three corporate travel associations support the principle of local investment, they stress that essential business travel must be protected from additional taxation.

 

Abta’s response highlights how rising costs, increased taxation and wider regulatory pressures, are all steadily eroding the relative attractiveness of holidays in the UK as a whole.

 

Abta points out that the UK is ranked 113th out of 119 countries for price competitiveness by the World Economic Forum even before the levy was proposed.

 

If the levy goes ahead, Abta has joined with sector partners, including the Tourism Alliance, to call for mayors to be required to invest a proportion of the revenues raised to promote and develop local tourism, rather than used simply to plug gaps in local government budgets. 

 

Abta also believes that the proposal for a percentage-based model for any levy would be overly complex and administratively burdensome compared to a flat-rate charge.

 

This was made clear from the experience of Scotland which moved last year from a percentage to a flat rate model. 

 

Abta public affairs director Luke Petherbridge said: “We have sent a robust response to the government’s proposal for the introduction of an overnight visitor levy in England.

 

“Domestic and inbound tourism are worth more than £97 billion annually to the economy in England.

 

“We’ve long expressed concern with the cumulative impact of taxes and charges on UK travel and tourism, which is already uncompetitive on cost grounds.

 

“Adding further taxes to visitors who support vital economic activity across the country is short-sighted, and risks turning people off holidays in the areas imposing these charges.”

 

Business Travel Association commercial director Andrew Clarke said: “The BTA’s core position is clear: an overnight visitor levy should apply solely to discretionary tourism activity and should not apply to business travel undertaken for and on behalf of work.

 

“Business travellers are not tourists. Their travel is non-discretionary, economically productive, and directly linked to employment, investment, skills development, and regional growth.

 

“Applying a levy designed as a ‘tourist tax’ to business travel risks creating a de facto tax on UK businesses, productivity, and inward investment”