TravelMole Guest Comment by Travel 2 managing director Andy Freeth
Air Passenger Duty, the ‘aviation poll tax’, continues to hit travellers’ pockets and the UK-based travel industry.
What is so difficult to comprehend is that the recent increases, meaning yet more taxation on leisure spending, are at a time when the rest of the retail sector has been trying to stimulate demand.
We’ve seen the big boys, such as airlines and industry bodies up in arms, which is exactly the kind of weight this lobbying needs, but we also need to consider the people on the ground who deal with trying to explain this complicated additional cost in layman’s terms to the great British public.
Agents working for independent businesses who don’t have the luxury of a lobbying team at head office are now faced once again with trying to fight these changes, and to explain to their clients why additional add-on costs are soaring, particularly for long haul destinations.
The differences in the tax by distance of the flight and the category flying in are all additional complexities that a retail travel agent does not want to have to justify at the time of trying to secure a sale.
As an industry, and I speak as a long haul specialist on this one, we have enjoyed phenomenal support from the airlines over the last 12 months with great offers and seat prices in order to continue to both keep sales buoyant in difficult times and stimulate demand.
The hike in APD, with news that such increases are scheduled to continue, simply flies in the face of such achievements. Working together, several areas of the travel industry had managed to retain booking numbers and sustain robust businesses, and it is heartbreaking to have a government that appears to be going against this.
Our industry is worth billions, and the knock-on services that support the jobs and businesses in the UK travel sector are also huge.
What about the companies who print brochures, the IT support businesses and web designers, as well as all the childcare providers for the working mums and dads the travel industry employs?
On behalf of the independent travel agents who have to deliver the explanations for the increase in APD to consumers who are trying to find the best value for money for their hard-earned holiday spending, I urge the government and lobbyists to also consider how we find a way for their voice to be heard.
The UK travel industry needs to keep selling, it is a vital part of our economy, and we therefore need fewer barriers to achieving this aim.
Where there are barriers, particularly those with increased costs, we need clear and consistent information as to what is happening and why.
Quite simply, if the government cannot fully justify the APD cost hike to the airlines and operators, then how do they expect our agent partners working face-to-face with consumers to be prepared to explain it?
Tour Operator
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