Operators slam UK visa hike

A sudden hike in the cost of visas for foreign travellers to the UK is likely to deter tourists right at the start of the peak summer seaon.

The Government is to impose rises of almost 40% on the cost of a typical tourist visa allowing multiple entry to the UK, from £36 to £50. Student visas are to rise more dramatically from £36 to £85

The higher costs will apply from July 1 and have only just been announced.

Attacking the measure, European Tour Operators Association executive director Tom Jenkins warned that the UK could be excluded from future tours of Europe.

He said that if a European itinerary including the UK is substantially more expensive than one for the same number of days that does not, some incoming visitors will drop the UK leg entirely. This would cause the UK to loose significant export revenue, as visitors will choose to fly in to other hub cities rather than London. 

For those people visiting the UK as part of a European sightseeing tour and staying in budget hotels, the price of the visa will soon be equivalent to the cost of two additional nights’ accommodation, ETOA claims. 

Jenkins said: “In response to the high visa costs, ETOA members have had to develop itineraries which omit the UK. These are outperforming those that include it. The price of a visa to enter the UK has clearly reduced demand.  

“Currently, a UK visa is twice the cost of a Schengen Visa, which gives access to 15 counties in Continental Europe. From July, it will be more than three times the price. This decision will make Britain look spectacularly expensive to foreign clients even before they arrive.

“This price increase will land with particular severity on such areas as South America and China, as these markets are extremely price sensitive.

“Thanks to Schengen, Europe is succeeding in establishing a presence in new markets; Britain is perceived as an expensive bolt-on.” 

UKvisas said the changes to visa fees followed a wide-ranging review of its cost base.

A statement on the www.ukvisas.gov.uk website said: “The new fees have been set to ensure that UKvisas continues to meet the full cost of the worldwide visa operation, which receives no subsidy from the UK taxpayer.

“Without these changes, the visa operation would incur a deficit over the course of this financial year.”

The changes represent an average increase of 21% across all visa categories, it added.

Report by Phil Davies 

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