'Barriers to travel sabotage tourism' as spending down

THE Government has been accused of sabotaging the UK's tourism industry as analysis found spending by international visitors was more than £2.2 billion below pre-pandemic levels last year.

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A report by the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents the sector, found visitors to the UK spent £40.3 billion in 2024, down 5.3% from 2019.

Julia Simpson, who is president of the WTTC and was an adviser to Sir Tony Blair during his time as prime minister, attributed the decline to measures she described as “deliberate policy choices” which have created “barriers to travel”.

These include introducing electronic travel authorisations - digital permits - the lack of tax-free shopping and increasing air passenger duty.