Flying to the UK is set to become more expensive this year. To begin with, at the moment, , the cost for a United Kingdom Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is £16 but the British government has plans to increase the fee to £20 although a specific date for this further increase has not yet been confirmed. That said, the move has not gone down well.
It is believed the increased visa costs combined with plans to increase the cost of electronic travel authorisation (ETA) could wipe out more than £1.5 billion of tourist spend, much of it in pub and hospitality sector. Kate Nicholls, the head of UK Hospitality told the Telegraph newspaper: ‘Inbound tourism is the closest thing you can get to free money in the economy.
‘It is our second largest services export earner – foreign visitors spend more eating and drinking out at our pubs and restaurants than all of our food and drink exports put together and socialising like a local is the top attraction – and generates jobs growth and investment across all parts of the UK.’ But, apart from the cost of the ETA, flying to the United Kingdom may become more expensive due to new airport taxes.
Air passengers are being warned of a possible sharp increase in airfares due to an increase in commercial property tax for airports. According to forecasts, the biggest hit will not be felt in central London, but at regional airports across the country. Last October, the chief executive of Jet2.com and Jet2holidays, Steve Heapy, during the ABTA concention in Magalluf, warned the UK government not to treat the travel sector as a ‘cash cow’ ahead of the Autumn Budget, expressing deep concerns about new tax burdens.
Speaking at the convention in Calvia Heapy expressed fears that more workers will be pushed into a higher tax bracket with the November announcements and he warned that will no be good for the travel industry, neither at home in the UK nor abroad. And, Air Passenger Duty – a stealth levy on air fares also known as the ‘holiday tax’ – is set to rocket by several times the rate of inflation and that will mean a further increase in the price of flights and holidays to popular destinations like Mallorca and beyond. Ryanair believes the APD is a burden that increases the price of flights, disproportionately affecting budget airlines and their passengers.