Responding to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s (DCMS) ‘Promoting Britain Abroad’ report, UKHospitality Chief Executive Kate Nicholls said: “The DCMS committee is absolutely right to highlight the enormous value tourism offers to the UK economy, and hospitality is at the heart of that offering.
“Every part of the UK has something to offer tourists and we have a fantastic reputation as a country, but we should not rest on our laurels and we need to be globally competitive. For example, VAT remains much higher in the UK compared to our European counterparts. We would encourage the government to look at the cost benefits of lowering the rate of VAT and the introduction of tax-free shopping to redress this imbalance.
“The committee’s recommendation to introduce a temporary recovery visa is something UKHospitality has long been calling for. This would go a long way to helping recruitment challenges and would support the sector’s ability to provide fantastic service to all its customers. We would strongly urge the government to consider its introduction as part of a pro-growth review of immigration policy.
“The impression the UK can leave on visitors, in particular school visits, should not be underestimated and we also absolutely support the committee’s recommendation to allow single visas as part of educational visits.”
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