The Tourism Alliance of industry bodies is urging the government to revise the Package Travel Regulations (PTRs) to remove domestic holiday products from the legislation unless they include travel.
The proposal is one of a series in a Tourism Alliance plan published last week entitled Rebuilding Britain’s Tourism Industry.
Tourism Alliance director Kurt Janson called on the government to “amend the PTRs to allow domestic business and destination management organisations to sell holidays they package without becoming an organiser”.
He argued government support would be needed to get anywhere near the recovery targets for inbound and domestic tourism set out in the government’s Tourism Recovery Plan published last June.
Speaking at a Tourism Society ‘Prospects’ seminar last week, Janson noted: “The recovery plan targeted a domestic tourism recovery to the level of 2019 by 2022 and an inbound return by 2023. But VisitBritain predicts a domestic return by 2024 and inbound by 2026, so [these] quasi-government forecasts have been pushed back two years.”
The Tourism Alliance report argues: “These goals will not be achieved without £20 billion of new policy initiatives.”
It notes a survey of 200 businesses found “74% would sell [packaged] value-added products if they were outside the scope of the PTRs”. The report adds: “Amending the definition of a ‘package’ so that package travel must include travel is a simple way of freeing value-added products from the scope of the regulations . . . People making their own travel arrangements do not need to be repatriated and each business . . . would become separately liable for the performance of their component.”
Jansen suggested total industry losses over the two years of the pandemic total £179 billion – comprising domestic losses of £95 billion, inbound of £44 billion and outbound of £40 billion.
He noted the government estimates it provided £37 billion to tourism businesses in grants, loans, tax breaks and furlough payments but said: “The total losses are still £142 billion. That is a massive loss of revenue.”
Janson reported a Tourism Alliance survey of businesses in January found a significant number with less than two months’ cash reserves.
He argued: “International travel is not going to normalise until most of the world is vaccinated. The World Travel & Tourism Council forecasts a recovery to 94% of 2019’s level in 2022 and revenue to exceed 2019 in 2023. You can take that with a pinch of salt, but it highlights the difference between global and UK predictions.
“The government has to step up and do more. Other countries are spending big. Tourism Ireland has been given the go-ahead to spend €80 million. VisitBritain’s total spending will be £20 million.”
Proposals by the Tourism Alliance include increasing funds for marketing, retaining a reduced VAT rate and restoring the VAT rebate scheme. The report has been sent “to every MP”.