Weekly TA update – new tourism Minister confirmed; ABTA & UKInbound value report; OTS report on income tax for landlords…

  1. New Tourism Minister confirmed
  2. Launch of TA report on student group travel research
  3. BVEP becomes UKEvents
  4. ABTA & UKInbound research on the value of international travel
  5. A reminder to register for and promote the Tourism Industry Conference – 15 November 2022
  6. OTS report: Property income review: simplifying income tax for residential landlords
  7. Thank you from me.

New Tourism Minister confirmed

We have had it confirmed that Stuart Andrew MP will be taking over the tourism portfolio as Minister for Sport, Tourism and Civil Society, and Minister for Equalities in DCMS.

The Minister has been the Member of Parliament for Pudsey since 2010 and has held a range of roles in government including as a whip, in the MoD, Wales Office, MoJ, and as Minister for Housing.

We welcome the Minister to his new portfolio and look forward to working closely with him.

Launch of TA report on student group travel research

Next week we will be launching a report we have compiled following a survey conducted in conjunction with English UK, BETA, and UKInbound on the numbers of school group visits to the UK. The numbers have plummeted since Brexit following the end of the ‘List of Travellers’ scheme. This now means that absolutely everybody entering the UK must have a passport, which is a huge problem in attracting school visits to the UK from the EU especially where many children do not have a passport, and usually rely on national ID cards, which are no longer sufficient at the UK border.

We will be launching this report in a webinar on Thursday 10th November at 1200.

Join us for the launch via https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88049935867

BVEP becomes UK Events

Tourism Alliance member BVEP has relaunched as UK Events. Their announcement is below:

The Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP), the umbrella body and advocacy group for the UK’s £70 billion events industry, has today unveiled its new brand identity, UK Events, at The Business of Events: UK Policy Forum, currently taking place at the QEII Centre in Westminster, London.

The rebrand marks the organisation’s commitment to strengthening its position as the collective single voice for the UK events industry and growing its influence and collaboration with other aligned organisations and sectors.

The change, effective from today, follows a successful consultation period with the organisation’s member partners, and will include a retitle and a refreshed brand identity which will be gradually phased into operations and communications in the coming months. According to the Executive Committee, this reflects the group’s values of championing a more inclusive sector that supports the delivery of economic growth and benefits for the whole of the UK. 

Chris Skeith OBE, Chair, UK Events said: “We are delighted to reveal the UK Events identity to our peers, members, and the wider industry, and truly believe the changes better reflect the diverse nature of the events sector our partners represent which has grown to not only include meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and trade shows, but also incentive travel, event hospitality, ceremonies, sporting, cultural, outdoor and festivals. 

“Many positive things have been mused, actioned, and executed under the BVEP name, and BTP (British Tourism Partnership) before it, and I know I speak for many of our members and executives when I say we’re proud of all that we have achieved, and how we’ve evolved since the partnership was formed in 1999. But progression is about moving forward and adopting alternative approaches, and I look forward to continuing our work with a fresh and exciting new look. The UK Events name incorporates how our members are adapting and growing in line with the UK’s ever-changing events industry, and demonstrates that as a collective, our sector is a serious contender for international trade, exports and inward investment.”

ABTA & UKInbound research on the value of international travel

ABTA and UKinbound this week launched a new joint report: ‘International travel: Powering the UK economy’ based on research commissioned from leading aviation consultancy, York Aviation.

The report finds that international travel…

  • contributes £80bn to the UK economy in total GVA annually – equivalent to 4.0% of the UK’s total GVA;
  • supports 1.5 million jobs – 4.5% of all jobs in the UK;
  • provides £13.2bn to HM Treasury in taxes;
  • generates £84bn in travel-related spending across the UK;
  • is due to outperform other parts of the UK economy over the next five years – with inbound tourism due to grow by 20%, and outbound by 15%, compared with 2019 levels. Forecast growth across the UK economy is just 10.3% over the same period.

The report webpage also includes a really useful constituency-level dashboard which colleagues may be able to use locally.

A reminder to register for and promote the Tourism Industry Conference – 15th November 2022

Thank you to everyone who has already registered for the Tourism Industry Conference hosted by The Tourism Alliance, British Destinations and The Tourism Society taking place at the Royal Over-Seas League, Park Place London SW1A 1LR, 1000-1600 on Tuesday 15th November.

If you have not already done so, you can register via Eventbrite.

I have attached the conference programme and a PDF flyer which it would be great if you could promote through your networks and social media.

OTS report: Property income review: simplifying income tax for residential landlords

The Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) has published a report on ‘simplifying income tax for residential landlords’. This follows a consultation to which the TA and many others contributed. The report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ots-review-of-residential-property-income

We will be doing a deeper dive into the implications of the OTS recommendations in a separate update.

Thank you from me

I’m currently on my fourth day in post, and it already feels like my 400th! Thank you to everyone who has been so kind in welcoming me to the TA. I’ve had a chance to meet a good few people so far, and with many more intro meetings in the diary already, I’m confident of making contact with all members by the end of the year.

There are a couple of things which stand out from my early meetings. Firstly, the huge value that members see in being part of the Alliance, and secondly the huge range of policy issues facing our sectors.