Brits Penalised for Long-Haul Travel

Please find attached and below a media release from the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) and the Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF).

BRITS PENALISED FOR LONG-HAUL TRAVEL

Peak tourism industry groups in Australia and New Zealand fear yesterday’s rise in the UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) will further accelerate already declining British visitor arrivals.

Tourism & Transport Forum Australia (TTF) and Tourism Industry Association New Zealand (TIA) are reiterating their concern about the arbitrary and discriminatory nature of the APD.

TTF Chief Executive John Lee said the APD is an unfair impost on Brits wanting to visit Australia and New Zealand.

“This is the fourth APD rise since 2007 and the tax paid by an ordinary British traveller heading our way is now more than A$140,” said Mr Lee.

“The APD impedes tourism, travel, trade and economic growth and unfairly penalises British residents wishing to visit long-haul destinations like Australia and New Zealand.

“It also slugs visitors to Britain from long-haul source markets and Malaysian-based carrier Air Asia X has cited yesterday’s hike as a factor in its decision to cease flights between Gatwick and Kuala Lumpur.

“British arrivals to Australia fell 5.9% in 2011, while the number of Brits visiting New Zealand in 2011 was down 4.0% over 2010.

“Both TIA and TTF are concerned at the potential impact of this increase on British arrivals in our two countries and we believe this issue deserves attention at the highest level.”

TIA Policy & Research Manager Simon Wallace said yesterday’s rise is an iniquitous burden on long-haul tourism.

“The UK already has the highest departure tax in the world and this latest rise means a British family of four will pay more than NZ$736 in taxes just to leave the country,” Mr Wallace said.

“The APD is a tax on tourism which reaps billions of pounds in revenue for the British government masquerading as environmental policy which will simply price more potential visitors to Australia and New Zealand out of the market.

“Persistent poor economic conditions in Europe mean consumer confidence remains low and reduces the likelihood of people to take a long-haul holiday, so now is not the time to introduce another barrier.

“We are urging the New Zealand and Australian governments to make our concerns clear to the British government and to point out that the policy will make visiting the UK more expensive for Australians and New Zealanders.

“This could also have the unintended consequence of reducing the number of tourists visiting Britain from long-haul source markets.”

Editors’ notes:
Since 2009 the APD has been split into four distance bands, with both Australia and New Zealand falling into the highest band, for destinations over 9650 kilometres (6000 miles) from London.

From 1 April 2012, the UK APD rises from £85 for each economy class passenger to £92 and from £170 for premium class passengers to £184. This is the fourth rate rise since 2007 and represents a five-fold increase. The new rate equates to £368 (approximately A$560/NZ$736) for a family of four travelling to Australia or New Zealand.

Further reading:
In March 2011, the UK Treasury launched a review into its air passenger excise tax, the Air Passenger Duty, and you can read TIA’s and TTF’s submissions by clicking the links below.
Read the Tourism Industry Association New Zealand’s submission to HM Treasury here.
Read Tourism & Transport Forum’s submission to HM Treasury here.

ENDS

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