Cut Tourism VAT to harness Brexit to boost MPs' support
The Cut Tourism VAT campaign is hoping to capitalise on Brexit to sign up 200 MPs to its cause by next year.
The campaign, which calls for a reduction in the rate of VAT levied on tourism businesses from 20% to 5% to make them more competitive, currently has the support of 166 MPs.
In a letter to supporters, campaign chairman Dermot King who is also managing director of Butlins, said that with Brexit negotiations likely to start in March 2017, now was the time to push for "a bold business plan for the hospitality and tourism sector and a reduction in Tourism VAT" which he said would allow the UK business to compete internationally on a fair playing field.
Around 31 other European countries have a reduced rate of tourism VAT but no exception is made for the sector in the UK.
"The coming months present an excellent opportunity to demonstrate how the tourism industry- partially achieved through a reduction in tourism VAT- can help deliver an economy that works for all- consumers, employees and businesses," King added.
Meanwhile, he reminded supporters that the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Visitor Economy has just completed its inquiry into skills and apprenticeships with the report due to be released next month.
The APPG is also due to launch an inquiry into coastal communities off the back of the British Hospitality Association's recent report Creating Coastal Powerhouses, with the inquiry expected to look at the issue of a progressive tax environment. Nearly all of the submissions so far have referenced the effect that a reduction in tourism VAT would have on the industry.
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