UK Tourism Bodies Attack Lack of Government Support

Leading tourism bodies in the UK have called into question’s the Government’s support for the tourism sector, following a tightening of visa requirements and new air passenger duty regulations.

VisitBritain has said the high cost of visas and the bureaucracy obtaining one is putting off people from visiting Britain. UK inbound has taken a similar stance, as well as calling for a delay in the new system for Air Passenger Duty, which comes into force later this year.

The news follows Jacqui Smith, home secretary, adding South Africa to the list of countries whose citizens require visas to visit Britain. South Africans will need to provide fingerprints and require a six-month visa, costing £65. They make up the fifth biggest market for the UK inbound market, with 168,000 tourists to the UK in 2007, and 46,200 business visitors.

VisitBritain said visa fees had risen 75 per cent since 2006, and claimed that their costs were the reason many tour operators and independent travelers did not include the UK in European tours. France, for example, received 750,000 visitors from China in 2007, but the UK took in only 150,000.