The UK Government has been accused of sabotaging the UK’s tourism industry as analysis found spending by international visitors was more than 2.2 billion Pounds ($2.9 billion) below pre-pandemic levels last year.
A report by the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the sector, found people visiting the UK spent 40.3 billion Pounds in 2024, down by 5.3 percent from 2019.
The report found that travel and tourism contributed 286 billion Pounds to the UK’s economy in 2024 up by 3.9 percent from 2019, while jobs in the sector supported 4.2 `million UK livelihoods last year.
Julia Simpson, president of the WTTC and an adviser to Tony Blair during his time as prime minister, attributed the decline to measures she described as “deliberate policy choices”, which have created barriers to travel.
These included introducing electronic travel authorisations, digital permits, lack of tax-free shopping, and increasing air passenger duty.
Simpson told the PA news agency that the UK was not back to where it needs to be (on spending by international visitors), whereas the rest of the world was.
She added that the UK was losing value compared to other European partners.
She said: “This government is all about growth.
“They’re looking at how to make money.
“They are trying to save steel plants.
“They are looking to see what we can do about our water companies.
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“Yet here we have a private sector enterprise; travel and tourism contributing 10 percent of UK GDP, creating jobs, but we are not prioritising it in any way.”
Simpson said that the government was keen on promoting the regions, adding that to do that, a marketing wing was needed.
According to her: “You need to sell the UK.
“You need to sell Harry Potter.
“You need to sell Jane Austen.
“You need to sell Richard III.
“It’s really important that you create stories about the UK so that international visitors come to all our regions.”
Simpson added that boosting UK tourism needed to be led by the prime minister, referring to France and Spain as strong examples.
However a government spokesperson has said that the UK was one of the most visited countries in the world and international tourism drives billions into its economy.
The spokesperson said: “We are supporting the continued growth of this industry and will be launching a national visitor economy strategy.
“This autumn will help us meet our ambition to welcome 50 million international visitors a year to the UK by 2030.”
dpa/NAN.
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