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APD increase will hit UK tourism, warns Ukinbound
Ukinbound has welcomed a reform of Air Passenger Duty but has voiced concerns about the Government’s desire to increase taxes on air travel.
The trade association for UK export tourism businesses said a fundamental reform of APD was long overdue, but added that it did not welcome an objective, outlined by the Treasury in the pre-Budget small print, to increase taxes on travel.
Chief executive Stephen Dowd said: “The Treasury has yet again missed the point in its efforts to gouge more money from tax weary travellers.
“And where will this money be spent? There was no indication the additional taxation would be used for environmental purposes.
“This policy will do more to damage inbound and domestic tourism than to curb outbound travel or carbon emissions. By taxing the environmental impact of the aircraft, airlines will be encouraged to invest more heavily in developing sustainable alternatives.”
It said higher taxes will mean that potential overseas visitors, comparing UK prices with the lower priced flights and taxes of other destinations, will increasingly choose to take their business elsewhere.
“Further increases are totally unjustified and would simply undermine our international competitiveness,” added Dowd.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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