It is not often that Visit West finds itself in Parliament, though having been there twice in the space of 10 days for 'meet the MP' events with UKInbound and VisitBritain/VisitEngland, to be there on the same day that the next general election is called for Thursday 4 July is extraordinary.
Over the last few months, some of the associations Visit West supports through membership have launched their manifesto asks of a future government. This is an opportunity to share some of the key highlights:
Reintroduce the VAT Reclaim Scheme and Airside Tax-Free Shopping Scheme
- Prioritise UK exports, and bolster regional economic growth and competitiveness, by extending the scheme to EU citizens.
- Fully digitalise the process, which would streamline its implementation and provide vital data about consumer spending habits.
- When the UK closed its VAT Reclaim Scheme in 2021, it became the only European country not to offer tax-free shopping to visitors. Had this been not only retained, but enhanced to include EU countries, then the UK would have had an advantage not only over EU destinations, but supported growth in 'in market’ purchases which could support regional spend in high streets.
Read more at: https://data.london.gov.uk/blog/the-impact-of-ending-tax-free-shopping-on-the-uk-and-london-economies/
Image: Bristol Airport
Extend passport-free travel schemes for under 18-year olds
Working with safe countries across Europe, we could enable passport free travel schemes that would allow organised school groups, with students under the age of 18, to travel to the UK on an ID card.
UKInbound's Manifesto states: “The challenge with the requirement to have a passport is that a large percentage of EU school children do not possess one but they can travel freely across the Schengen area on a national ID card. Figures vary by country but as an example, it is estimated that only 35% of Italian school children have a passport. Additionally, many EU schools have children who are foreign nationals with the right to live in the EU, but who do not have the right to an EU passport. These children are therefore required to have a visa to enter the UK. Due to inclusivity laws, a school trip is often not permitted to go ahead unless all members of a class can attend.”
Bristol, Bath and the wider West of England region offer a huge opportunity to inbound education groups, as well as domestic. This is due to the compact nature of the destinations, access to wider regional visits as well as the wealth of opportunities, from youth hostels to easy dining.
Alongside organised school groups, we would like to see the policy extended to include other educational, sporting and cultural groups, where again, the region could benefit significantly.
Our region is home to this year’s British Educational Travel Association (BETA) Annual Conference.
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Image: British Educational Travel Conference (BETA)
Visa Reforms
Across the world, the value of the spend of international visitors as an export is widely understood. In the UK, inbound tourism is the third largest service export, worth 9% of GDP, but our visa system is uncompetitive. This is demonstrated in the following example from UKInbound’s Manifesto: a 10 year multi entry visa for Chinese nationals costs £963 in the UK, while the same visa in the USA costs £150. This discourages repeat visits, not least for leisure visitors, but those valuable regional VFR markets and business visitors wanting to return as leisure visitors with friends and family.
For more about manifestos, visit:
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