In this newsletter: “Reeves blocks Mayors’ plan for taxes on tourists” – Sunday Times Meeting…
Tourism Alliance update
In this newsletter:
- Budget review and sector impact feedback
- 2024 Tourism Facts and Figures document published
- Conference panel announcement: “Squaring the Circle: Funding, Taxes and Staying Competitive.”
- Full CMS Committee membership announced
- UK Events Report 2024 published: industry generates £62billion annually
Politico sees leaked EU document: Visas for under-30s ‘essential’ to Brexit reset
Budget review and sector impact feedback
TA members should have received our TA Newsflash yesterday immediately following the Budget statement by the Chancellor.
It is clear that the Budget impact on business will be huge. UKHospitality are estimating a £3bn increased annual tax bill from that sector.
It is a triple whammy for many businesses – NICs increases, minimum wage increases and the reduction of business rates relief to 40% – all happening at the same time. This is going to be a huge additional burden on businesses which of course will end up – if businesses survive – being passed on to tourists.
This is on top of the direct impact on tourists – the biggest example of which is the increase in Air Passenger Duty.
The Chancellor clearly had a difficult job to do to balance the books, meet her fiscal rules, invest in politically vital areas such as health. But whether this Budget will allow the Government to deliver its overall economic growth mission is at best an open question; the OBR appears sceptical and growth projections remain weak.
DCMS and the TA are keen to gather views and data from across the sector about the impact that you believe the Budget announcements will have. We have given our immediate assessment to DCMS but if you have any data or an impact assessment from your part of the industry please do share it with us.
2024 Tourism Facts and Figures document published
We are pleased to publish a new UK Tourism Facts and Figures document for 2024.
This is a refreshed and restart of a similar report we used to publish before Covid. We hope that this new report will be of use to colleagues across the sector. The idea is that this is a reliable and comprehensive report pulling out important data from various sources so that we collectively can sing from the same hymn sheet, especially for engagement with policy-makers.
The report is in seven sections:
- Volume and value of the UK tourism industry
- Inbound tourism
- Domestic tourism
- Outbound tourism
- Day visitors
- Tourism economics
- Tourism employment
Conference panel announcement: “Squaring the Circle: Funding, Taxes and Staying Competitive.”
We are announcing yet another great policy panel for this year’s Tourism Policy Conference (26 November 2024).
How do we ensure we’re funding our tourism structures, marketing and assets while also ensuring we improve our competitive position internationally and what can we learn from destinations who have new funding models?
We have assembled a great panel to tackle these questions.
We now have less than a month to go before this year’s conference. Make sure you book your tickets and get the conference in your diary now.
Next week we will be announcing our final two panels on Short-Term Lets as well as our keynote speaker soon.
Find the rest of the programme, details, and tickets at https://buytickets.at/thetourismalliance/1259649
Full CMS Committee membership announced
The final members of the HoC Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee have now been announced. The full line up is below. We’re looking forward to working with the full committee, led by Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, as they embark on their work programme and doing the important job of scrutinising the work of the Department.
UK Events Report 2024 published: industry generates £62billion annually
Valued TA Member, UKEVENTS, has announce the findings of its UK Events Report 2024.
The report highlights the industry’s role in the economy, generating £61.653 billion annually and affirming its resilience following the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key findings from the report include:
- Corporate eventssuch as conferences, trade shows, exhibitions and product launches, generating £33.6 billion.
- Leisure and outdoor eventsincluding music festivals, sporting events, and cultural festivals, contributing £28.053 billion.
- A shift in employment dynamics, with more freelance roles and stabilising salaries after the pandemic-induced demand for talent.
Press release and links to various versions of the report are available at https://ukevents.org.uk/news/bvep-press-releases/1282-uk-events-report-2024-published-uk-events-industry-generates-61-653-billion-annually-demonstrating-post-pandemic-resilience
Politico sees leaked EU document: Visas for under-30s ‘essential’ to Brexit reset
Politico has seen a leaked document stating the EU position on UK-EU relations which appears to see Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) as absolutely central to reset relations. The article suggests that YMS is “an indispensable element” of negotiations with London.
“It’s the latest sign that the idea — which the internal paper also describes as ‘essential for our future relationship’ — is still very much in the sights of Brussels despite pushback from Britain’s new leader.”
We have been disappointed by the position taken by the new Government, and by the Labour Party when in opposition, to YMS which they unjustly and naively link to freedom of movement, which it clearly and demonstrably is not. There are many MPs and parts of the Labour Party who agree with us on the social, educational, and economic benefits of youth mobility, and who are working to get the Government to soften its position. Clearly this is something the EU – rightfully and helpfully – want vigorously to pursue.
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