Travel industry unites for air tax campaign
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Leading travel companies have launched a campaign against the UK government to stop further APD increases. The campaign, named Fair Tax on Flying, is calling on the government to reconsider rising APD prices after a recent consumer survey from ABTA found that 63 percent of Brits think taxation is too high. The association, together with British Airways, UKInbound and the Co-operative Travel has written to George Osborne in time to meet the March Budget announcement. “When it comes to the future of tourism in the UK, the Government’s words and deeds simply do not match up,” said Mark Tanzer, chief executive of ABTA. “The Prime Minister has identified tourism as one of the top five industries to drive growth, yet aviation tax has become a punitive stealth tax.” In addition, it has warned that increased taxes could affect the UK economy, as travellers could bypass the UK in their travels. “Our research also shows that consumers will look at alternative airports to fly from to lessen the impact of APD, and this is bound to have a major impact on UK airlines,” said Mike Greenacre, managing director of The Co-operative Travel. “APD has already had a significant impact on tourism. A survey of over 30,000 holidays carried out last month by The Co-operative Travel has seen a 17 per cent reduction year-on-year in holidays for destinations that are between 4,000 and 6,000 miles from London, with sales to the Caribbean (down 20 per cent) and India (down 34 per cent) hit particularly hard.” Airport operator BAA said it agreed with the initiative. “It’s essential we don’t price ourselves out of the opportunities for growth afforded by the boom in tourism across China, India and Europe,” said its statement. “It’s essential we don’t price ourselves out of the opportunities for growth afforded by the boom in tourism across China, India and Europe. It is vital we look at the bigger picture and take decisive action to help the private sector support our recovery by making Britain a competitive magnet for tourism.”
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