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Tourism Alliance update
In this newsletter:
- Early bird tickets for 2024 Tourism Policy Conference now available
- Designer Sir Paul Smith weighs in on tax-free shopping
- UKInbound’s Manifesto Launch
- VisitBritain and Saudi Arabia sign agreement to boost tourism
Early bird tickets for 2024 Tourism Policy Conference now available
This year’s Tourism Policy Conference, hosted by the Tourism Alliance, Tourism Society, and British Destinations will take place on Tuesday 26th November at the Royal Over-Seas League, London.
This will be a great opportunity to look forward to a new parliament, and possibly a new government, and consider what tourism policy is going to look like in the next five years.
Speakers, presentations, panels, and topics will be announced in the coming weeks and months, but early bird tickets are now. Limited tickets are available until 31st July at the special rate of £185+VAT. Following this the rate for members of the Tourism Alliance, Tourism Society, and British Destinations will be £205+VAT and for non-members £295.
Book now at the early bird rate
Sponsorship packages are available now too
Designer Sir Paul Smith weighs in on tax-free shopping
The Sunday Times had an in-depth piece looking at the effects of the abolition of tax-free shopping on the ground, in particular in the West End and Bicester Village. Sir Paul Smith has weighed in after seeing a 47% reduction in non-EU shoppers in his stores since 2019 adding, quite rightly: “I think the government are misunderstanding the impact it has. It’s not just to do with the loss of sales at luxury businesses. It’s also hitting cafes, restaurants, hotels. It’s not just la-di-da luxury, it’s ordinary people trying to run businesses.”
UKInbound’s Manifesto Launch
TA Member, UKInbound, launched their manifesto for the general election in Parliament this week. UKInbound’s manifesto reiterates many of the points and asks we have made in our manifesto on topics such as youth mobility, marketing Britain abroad, youth and school group travel, tackling visa cost, and making the ETA more competitive.
Download Driving Export Growth A Manifesto For The UK’s Inbound Visitor Economy
VisitBritain and Saudi Arabia sign agreement to boost tourism
VisitBritain and representatives from across tourism have been in Saudi Arabia this week alongside Government ministers and officials as part of the Great Futures trade expo in Riyadh. Visit Britain and the Saudi Tourism Authority have signed an agreement to boost tourism in both countries