Tourism Alliance Weekly Update – 8 May 2026

In this newsletter:

• WESTMINSTER & PARLIAMENT
• OVERNIGHT VISITOR LEVY
• IRAN CRISIS: MEMBER SURVEY AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE
• TA IN ACTION
• VISA & IMMIGRATION UPDATES
• FORWARD LOOK
• INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE
• Submit Your News

From Eddy Leviten, Executive Director

Election Special. Watch out for member comms on the most important elections this year…to the TA Advisory Council. Nominations will open soon!

In the meantime we head into a week of fallout from the local elections in England and the Welsh and Scottish elections. Then the King’s Speech and expected announcement on the visitor levy amongst other policy issues.

CMS Select Committee inquiry draft response should be in members’ inboxes. Please respond ASAP as we want to get this submitted early next week.

Please also continue to send in your news on events, policy or other issues of interest to TA members. This is your platform.

Vote early. Vote often.

Eddy

WESTMINSTER & PARLIAMENT

Parliament Prorogued — King’s Speech 13 May 2026
Parliament was prorogued on Wednesday 6 May 2026 ahead of the State Opening. The King’s Speech takes place on Wednesday 13 May, marking the beginning of the 2026–27 parliamentary session. Following the Speech, the Lords will debate the legislative programme over five days: the session of most direct relevance to the visitor economy is Tuesday 19 May: education, culture, technology and energy security.

The TA is monitoring the King’s Speech closely for the following:
• Visitor Economy Growth Strategy — a Ministerial commitment has been given to publish in the spring; the Speech or accompanying announcements may include a publication date or further commitments
• OVL regulations timeline — the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act (Royal Assent 29 April) places a legal duty on the Secretary of State to produce OVL regulations within one year; the Speech may signal scope and timetable
• Immigration legislation — tightening of immigration rules is widely anticipated; workforce implications for hospitality and tourism employers
• Railways Bill (carried over) — establishes Great British Railways; connectivity to visitor destinations and rail transport costs are live member concerns
• National Events Strategy — DCMS committed to delivery this year at the CMS Major Events inquiry; may be referenced

The TA will report on the King’s Speech next week.

CMS Tourism Inquiry — Submissions Deadline 18 May

With Parliament now prorogued and the new session beginning 13 May, the CMS Committee’s tourism inquiry written evidence deadline of 18 May remains in place. The TA is finalising its submission and a latest draft was circulated to members on Friday. The inquiry explicitly covers the OVL, the 50 million visitor ambition, rising business costs and DCMS/VisitBritain effectiveness. Full details at committees.parliament.uk

OVERNIGHT VISITOR LEVY

English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act — Royal Assent 29 April 2026
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. For the overnight visitor levy, the Act does not directly give mayors the power to charge a levy. Instead, it places a legal duty on the Secretary of State to produce regulations within one year enabling Established Mayoral Strategic Authorities (EMSAs) to introduce a levy on overnight accommodation. Those regulations must pass by affirmative resolution in both Houses — meaning further parliamentary scrutiny lies ahead.

The seven EMSAs currently in scope are: Greater London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, West Yorkshire, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire and the North East. The list is not fixed — Greater Lincolnshire and York and North Yorkshire are expected to qualify for Established status from late 2026 onwards.

Whether the power will extend to Foundation Strategic Authorities (areas without a directly elected mayor) remains unresolved. The LGA has called for FSA inclusion and this will be a contested issue as regulations are drafted.

Timeline: When Could a Live English Levy Operate?
No English overnight levy can be charged before the regulations are in place. Once they are, individual mayors must run their own public consultation and establish a collection framework. The realistic earliest date for a live levy in any English city remains 2027, with 2028 more probable for most areas.

For context: Edinburgh’s 5% levy launches 24 July 2026 and Wales can charge from April 2027. Members operating across multiple nations should plan for a patchwork of different levy regimes, rates and collection mechanisms. The TA continues to press for a consistent national framework as the most proportionate and least administratively burdensome approach.

The TA’s Position

The TA’s asks remain: a full independent economic impact assessment before any levy is charged; ring-fencing of all levy revenue for reinvestment in the visitor economy; a nationally consistent design framework; and no implementation before the Visitor Economy Growth Strategy is in place. The TA will engage fully with the regulations process and will submit evidence to the CMS tourism inquiry addressing OVL design directly. GOV.UK: English Devolution Bill receives Royal Assent.

IRAN CRISIS: MEMBER SURVEY AND GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

As the situation in the Gulf continues to evolve, the Tourism Alliance is gathering up to date, real world evidence on how the Iran crisis is affecting the UK visitor economy as we approach the summer peak.

We have launched Wave 4 of our short member poll to understand:
• How conditions have changed since mid April
• The impact on summer bookings, costs and confidence
• What government action is now most urgently needed

The poll takes around 3 minutes to complete, and responses are treated in confidence. Even if your business has not yet been directly affected, your input is vital to ensure a complete and credible picture of the sector.

👉 Complete the Wave 4 Member Poll

Crucially, I would greatly appreciate your help in sharing this poll with your own members, networks and businesses across the visitor economy. The wider the response, the stronger the evidence base we can take to ministers, officials and agencies. We can also generate media interest and comment to help drive politicians to act, as in the Daily Telegraph piece on Monday.

Your collective responses will directly inform our engagement with Government and others in the coming days and weeks.

Thank you for taking part and for helping us amplify the voice of the visitor economy at a critical moment.

Reminder of what we heard on the last polling:

“Sales are 30–43% down on last year.” — Tourism attraction operator

“For the first four months of the year our fixed costs have exceeded our income. This is having a major impact on our cashflow.” — Accommodation and retail operator

“Cancellations are driven by fear of not being able to buy fuel to get home. Guests are being offered discounts to absorb the additional fuel costs.” — Accommodation sector

TA IN ACTION

Weather App Campaign: TA Seeks Member Evidence for Met Office Meeting

Chester Zoo is leading a campaign to change how weather forecasts are displayed on popular apps, warning that misleading rain icons could cost some venues up to £137,000 in a single day. There is a meeting with the Met Office to present evidence and members including UK Events are supporting the research.

This is a direct advocacy opportunity with measurable impact on member revenue. We need member evidence of financial losses attributable to misleading weather forecasts before the Met Office meeting. Please complete the survey as soon as possible:
Complete the weather app survey — SurveyMonkey

Northern Growth Strategy: TA to Respond by 31 July

The Government’s Northern Growth Strategy: Case for Change and Next Steps explicitly commits to amplify the visitor economy in the North (including its five national parks, cultural assets and heritage sites) and states that the OVL “will enable further investment to boost the visitor economy and cultural offer, which already contributes approximately £9 billion per year and supports over 100,000 jobs” in Greater Manchester alone.

The Strategy also commits to publishing a visitor economy growth plan “in the spring with a focus on driving regional growth.” The consultation closes 31 July 2026. The TA will submit a response and invites member evidence — particularly from members operating in or attracting visitors to northern destinations. Contact the TA by 9 July to contribute. Full details: gov.uk — Northern Growth Strategy.

Land Use Framework: TA Monitoring for Visitor Economy Implications

DEFRA published England’s first Land Use Framework on 18 March 2026 (updated 6 May). The Framework sets a national vision for land use to 2050 covering housing, food production, clean energy, and nature recovery. Its relevance to the visitor economy lies in three areas: support for farm diversification into tourism (glamping, farm stays, visitor attractions); the future of National Parks and National Landscapes as visitor destinations; and planning implications for tourism development in rural areas.

The TA notes the visitor economy was underrepresented in the consultation process and will engage with future iterations of the Framework to ensure tourism’s economic contribution to rural England is properly recognised. Full document: gov.uk — Land Use Framework.

VISA & IMMIGRATION UPDATES

Priority and Super Priority Visa Services Expanded — 5 May 2026
From 5 May 2026, Priority Visa (PV) and Super Priority Visa (SPV) services have been expanded to 96 new Visa Application Centre locations across Visit (all routes), Overseas Domestic Workers, Seasonal Worker and Temporary Travel Visa applications.

Processing times: Standard — 15 working days; Priority Visa — 5 working days; Super Priority Visa — by end of next working day (both for an additional fee). New locations include VACs in Brazil, India (Thiruvananthapuram), Indonesia (Surabaya), Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah), Maldives and key African markets including Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia and Mauritius.

Faster processing is directly relevant to inbound tourism — reducing booking uncertainty for international visitors, particularly in the South and Southeast Asian markets most affected by Iran conflict routing disruption. Members in the events and incentive travel sector should note the Seasonal Worker route expansion for workforce planning purposes.

Secondment Worker Visa: Overseas Employment Requirement Reduced
The overseas employment requirement for the Secondment Worker visa has been reduced from 12 months to 6 months, allowing workers to qualify earlier for UK secondment. The route remains focused on temporary assignments linked to qualifying high-value contracts. This change is relevant to TA members hosting international business events and conferences who need to second specialist overseas staff for specific engagements.

Know Your Workers’ Rights Campaign

UKVI and the Fair Work Agency have launched a Know Your Workers’ Rights campaign (April–December 2026), targeting priority source countries to help overseas workers understand UK employment rights and avoid exploitation on Skilled Worker visas. The campaign covers checking licensed sponsors, understanding that workers should not pay sponsorship fees, and recognising exploitation warning signs. Members employing overseas workers should ensure their recruitment and HR practices are fully compliant. UKVI Director Marc Owen has departed — his successor will be announced in due course.

FORWARD LOOK

Date Event / Item Tourism & TA Relevance
NOW! TA internal deadline for CMS inquiry contributions Members wishing to contribute evidence to the TA’s submission should send this in immediately please.

13 May State Opening / King’s Speech TA monitoring for OVL regulations, Visitor Economy Growth Strategy and immigration legislation
18 May CMS tourism inquiry submissions deadline TA submission to be circulated to members for comment before submission
19 May Lords King’s Speech debate — culture, technology and energy Most relevant session for visitor economy legislation
24 July Edinburgh Visitor Levy launches — 5% First live visitor levy in the UK; TA monitoring early implementation
31 July Northern Growth Strategy consultation closes TA to submit response; members in should contribute evidence by 9 July
Early summer England OVL consultation response (MHCLG) Government response to February 2026 consultation on OVL design
Late 2026? National Events Strategy (DCMS) Ministerial commitment given at CMS Major Events inquiry; expected this year
17 Nov. TA Policy Conference, London Save the date — more details to follow

INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE

A Seat at the Table: Commercial Thinking in the Cultural Sector
Cultural Enterprises published A Seat at the Table: Embedding Commercial Thinking in the Cultural Sector on 6 May 2026. Based on research across more than 260 arts and heritage sites, the report finds that organisations which integrate commercial thinking into strategic decision-making at Board level consistently outperform those that do not. Commercial activity now represents the largest share of income for many cultural organisations.

Five themes emerge: programming is the primary driver of visitor behaviour; demand is concentrating around seasonal moments and experience-led offers; cost of living and climate are now ongoing conditions to plan for; growth is coming from a broader income mix; and commercial expertise at the highest level is the differentiating factor. Directly relevant to TA members running attractions, heritage sites, museums and cultural venues. Full report and landing page: culturalenterprises.org.uk/a-seat-at-the-table.

Sources & References

English Devolution Bill Royal Assent — GOV.UK: gov.uk
King’s Speech 2026 — House of Commons Library: commonslibrary.parliament.uk
State Opening of Parliament 2026 — Parliament.uk: parliament.uk
2026 Senedd Election — YouGov final MRP: yougov.com
CMS Committee tourism inquiry: committees.parliament.uk
TA Iran Crisis Wave 3 Poll, April 2026: tourismalliance.com
Weather App Survey — TA/Chester Zoo: surveymonkey.com/r/3XP5D5S
Northern Growth Strategy: Case for Change — GOV.UK: gov.uk
Land Use Framework for England — GOV.UK: gov.uk
SPV/PV expansion — UKVI stakeholder communication, 5 May 2026: gov.uk/visas
A Seat at the Table — Cultural Enterprises, 6 May 2026: culturalenterprises.org.uk
BBPA Annual Conference 2026: beerandpub.com/events-calendar