Tourism Alliance Update – 24 February

25 February 2022 Comment off
  • Arrivals Into England

With the replacement of the need for people who test positive for Covid to self-isolate with guidance that they should take 5 days off work, it is worth also noting the change in rules for people entering England from overseas. People arriving into England must still complete a passenger locator form within 48 hours of arrival but fully vaccinated people do not need to take any COVID-19 travel tests before or after arrival.

               However, people who are not fully vaccinated must still:

  • take a COVID-19 test – to be taken in the 2 days before you travel to England
  • book and pay for a COVID-19 PCR test – to be taken after you arrive in England
  • complete a UK passenger locator form – to be completed in the 48 hours before you arrive in England

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-to-england-from-another-country-during-coronavirus-covid-19

  • Removal of Covid Restrictions

As you will no doubt be aware, most of the remaining COVID-19 guidance in England ends today. This means that businesses no longer need to (although they are still voluntarily able to) do things such as:

  • Asking people to show proof of negative testing or asking them to check-in
  • Keeping records of customers, visitors, and staff for 21 days to support NHS Test and Trace

As such, they can remove any NHS COVID-19 QR code posters or any systems that they use to collect contact details.

Businesses that have records of customers, visitors, and staff that they have collected to support NHS Test and Trace are being asked to delete this data in a secure way (eg., permanently deleting electronic files and shredding paper documents) in order to comply with GDPR obligations.

The venue data held by NHS test and trace will be held for an initial six-month period prior to review in order to ensuring records are available for accountability and organisational need.  At the end of this review period, any personal data will be deleted, or records anonymised. If there is a future obligation to retain personal data beyond eight years, they will inform the business and update their privacy notice.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/carrying-out-covid-19-status-checks-at-your-venue-or-event
  • Redistribution Of Arts Council Funding

DCMS has announced both an increase in arts and cultural funding and changes to how this funding is to be distributed. Funding through the Arts Council is set to increase by £75m to £250m by 2025 while the Government plans to create around 80 new National Portfolio Organisations (NPOs) which will be eligible to receive this funding. The creation of the new MPOs will be prioritised to areas that historically have had low investment in arts and culture in support of the Government’s Levelling-Up agenda

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-100-places-to-see-improved-access-to-culture-and-arts-across-england
  • New VAT Infographic

Click here for a copy of a new VAT infographic that we have put together with UK Hospitality, BBPA and AVLA as part of the lobbying work on this issue. This is being sent to all MPs as part of a package on tourism policy material in the lead-up to English Tourism Week and is something that you are welcome to distribute to members as an aid when talking to their local MP about the importance of retaining the 12.5% VAT rate to the recovery of the UK tourism industry.

  • 2022 Tourism Conference

The Tourism Alliance, Tourism Society and British Destinations have agreed to hold this year’s Tourism Conference on 22nd June. Please add the date to your diary and we will send round further details when we start firming-up the agenda.

  • Passenger Arrivals

Home Office data on passenger arrivals for January 2022 has been published showing that the number of people arriving into the UK was 59% down on the corresponding period in 2020 (ie., pre-pandemic) and that since the start of the pandemic in April 2020, arrivals to the UK by air have been, on average, 82% lower.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-relating-to-passenger-arrivals-since-the-covid-19-outbreak-february-2022/statistics-relating-to-passenger-arrivals-in-the-united-kingdom-since-the-covid-19-outbreak-february-2022

Also for your information:

  • Click here for a copy of a Letter to the Chancellor from the office of the President of the National Outdoor Events Association relating to Red Diesel Legislation.