by The government was accused of “sabotaging” the British tourism industry after figures showed that international visitors spent more than £ 2 billion less than before pandemic.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which found in a new study that people who visited the UK, issued £ 40.3 billion GBP in 2024.
The excellent guidelines include the lack of tax -free shopping, the increase in passengers and the introduction of electronic travel calculations.
“We didn’t get back to where we have to be [on spending by international visitors] While the rest of the world has it, ”said Julia Simpson, the President of the WTTC, former advisor to Sir Tony Blair during his time as Prime Minister.
Simpson said: “This government is all about growth. Here we have a private company, travel and tourism that contributes 10% of British GDP and creates jobs, but we do not prioritize them in any way. We sabotage ourselves.”
Retailers, including the boss of the luxury brand Burberry, said that the scrap of a VAT tax break for tourists Great Britain has brought a “competitive disadvantage for global buyers”.
“Great Britain loses value shares compared to other European partners,” said Simpson with the Press Association.
She also criticized the decision to reduce the Budget of Tourism Authority Visitbritain by 44% this year.
On April 1, the budget for the “Great Britain and Northern Ireland” determination program was reduced to 10.57 million GBP after 18.85 million GBP last year. On the same day, the passenger service increased for many visitors in Great Britain.
A day later, the requirement of the Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) for 10 GBP was upset by all European visitors apart from the Irish and has increased to 16 GBP since then.
Related: Millions of tourists in Great Britain were asked to pay the local visitor levy
“You have to sell Britain,” said Simpson. “It is really important that you create stories about Great Britain so that international visitors come to all of our regions. You have to sell Harry Potter. You have to sell Jane Austen. You have to sell Richard III.”
A government spokesman said that Visitbritain’s campaign remains “an effective instrument after economic growth”.
“Great Britain is one of the most visited countries in the world and international tourism drives billions into our economy,” said the spokesman. “We support the continued growth of this industry and will start a national visitor business strategy this autumn to fulfill our ambition to welcome 50 million international visitors in Great Britain by 2030.”
The WTTC study, which was created in cooperation with the advisory company Oxford Economics, also found that travel and tourism contributed to the British economy in 2024 in the amount of 286 billion GBP.
