Give us some credit, says shopping outlet group
A shopping outlet company is calling on the industry and governments to fully recognise its contribution to tourism.
Value Retail, which has nine outlet villages across Europe including Bicester Village in Oxfordshire, says it is struggling to be seen as a major player despite creating key tourism hot spots.
"We have worked very hard at playing a major part in each community by creating jobs, running career fairs, employing locally and working in partnership with tourist boards, hotels and restaurants," said chief executive Desiree Bollier.
"Despite all this, however, we are still not viewed as major player within the industry and, as a consequence, we have a much smaller voice despite the impact we are having."
She said the group has been working closely with other players in the travel industry, forming partnerships with airlines and hotels through loyalty programmes and other promotions.
"We have become a trusted partner in the travel industry with our commercial partners and have achieved great things," she added.
Bollier also called on the UK government to simplify the claims process for the many visitors to Britain who can benefit from tax-free shopping.
"The process for our visitors to get tax back is like root canal surgery. At the moment it involves anything up to six separate stages instead of something that could be done quickly and efficiently using modern technology," she said.
"If the government wants to improve the number of visitors to our outlets, and therefore improve the economies of the areas that surround them, they could do nothing better than improve this tortuous procedure".
Value Retail has just announced plans to expand beyond Europe to the Far East thanks to an investment in China.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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