UK tourism industry calls for government support

UKinbound chief executive, Mary Rance, has voiced the organisation’s frustration at the government’s continued neglect of inbound tourism at ABTA’s annual Travel Matters conference. The event was attended by leaders in the travel and tourism industry. Rance highlighted her concerns regarding the government’s continuous efforts to extol the virtues of inbound tourism, as tourism minister John Penrose outlined at Travel Matters, while failing to introduce tangible measure to actually help grow the industry. There is too much rhetoric and very little action, argued Rance. “How can we expect the UK to be a top five ‘must visit’ country if the government fails to tackle the lack of progress on visa processing, the punitive APD and VAT increases? “The Olympics may well showcase the destination but it has actually been used by Ministers as an excuse to halt any dialogue or progress,” explained Rance. “Inbound tourism deserves better; it deserves more support from Government. Why hold up opportunities for UK economic growth?   “If we continue along the same slow path, how can we successfully drive inbound tourism? Immediate action is needed if we are to reach the desired target of attracting 40 million visitors to the UK by 2020,” she concluded.