Speaking at the Hotel Investment conference Europe in London, David Scowsill, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) called on the UK Government to abolish Air Passenger Duty. The UK Government is choking the growth of travel in the form of Air Passenger Duty (APD). APD…
Speaking at the Hotel Investment conference Europe in London, David Scowsill, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) called on the UK Government to abolish Air Passenger Duty.
The UK Government is choking the growth of travel in the form of Air Passenger Duty (APD). APD is cited numerously as the reason for the withdrawal of marginal air routes, and the losses or failure of travel companies. More importantly, it is dampening demand for travel out of the UK, as many British consumers just cannot afford the extra amount levied on the price of each ticket. This taxation costs the industry £2.5 billion each year and threatens the UK’s international competitiveness status as a tourism destination. It is bad for UK GDP and bad for the consumer.
“APD has always been a blunt instrument and a bad tax. The current distance-based system unfairly penalises long-haul destinations and is uneven in its application. For example the Caribbean is closer to the UK than the US West Coast yet is in a higher band”, said David Scowsill, President & CEO of WTTC.
APD distorts the market and damages the economic prosperity of certain long haul destinations, often those whose economies are extremely dependent upon Travel & Tourism. UK Government claims that the system is designed to offset aviation’s environmental impact and reduce emissions, but there is no evidence that money raised is used to offset any such impact.
UK treasury is currently evaluating tinkering with current APD scheme to spread the pain, without reducing its overall income stream.
With the adoption of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from next year, it is time for the UK Government to recognise that APD is a tax whose time has come – and gone. It must be phased out now.
Travel & Tourism is worth £105 billion to UK plc, 7% of GDP, and employs some 2.4 million people. Its contribution to GDP will increase by 3.7% a year and bring with it 512,000 new jobs to the UK over the next decade. However, compared to the rest of the world the country’s growth ranks a lowly 127th out of 181 countries.
“Despite economic growth facing many challenges, the Travel & Tourism industry is still expected to be one of the world’s fastest growing sectors. But it must have clear support from governments, if its full potential to create jobs, increase exports and stimulate investment is to be realised,” concluded David.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
