World Travel & Tourism Council president and chief executive Julia Simpson has slammed the government for being “short-sighted” and urged the new tourism minister to “take [travel] seriously” if the sector is to recover from the pandemic.
Speaking on a Travel Weekly webcast, Simpson welcomed the arrival of new tourism minister Stuart Andrew and encouraged him to focus on supporting the UK travel industry.
“I really want [Andrew] to look at the UK because we’re not doing so well on travel and tourism, and we’ve not come back as quickly [as other countries],” she said.
“Some of it is because business travel is taking a little bit longer, some of it is because in the UK we’re highly reliant on American tourists and the Americans kept the antigen testing in for a bit longer than other economies.
“But more than anything, [the government] doesn’t take [travel] seriously.
“Our Department for Culture, Media and Sport [DCMS] doesn’t even have tourism in the title and yet up to 10% of the UK economy comes from travel and tourism, so it’s kind of a shame we’re missing that.”
Simpson went on to slam the government’s decision to end tax-free shopping for international tourists, and warned travellers wanting to shop will visit other European countries instead of coming to the UK.
“When China opens up and all those amazing visitors come to Europe, why in heavens would they come to London when they could go to Paris or Rome and get 20% off their shopping. It’s such an own goal; it’s really short-sighted.”
She added: “I’ve got lots of faith in our new minister hearing this and going gangbusters.”
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