Global condemnation of APD hike
Tuesday, 11 Nov, 2009
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More than 100 tourism ministers from around the world have condemned this month’s hike in Air Passenger Duty.
They were at a summit meeting at World Travel Market, also attended by representatives of all sectors of the travel industry, organised by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
The organisation’s secretary general Taleb Rifai called on the Government to rethink the tax.
He said: “APD is not an environmental measure, it is an anti-development measure.
“The British government is schizophrenic. It says it is committed to promoting development in poorer countries yet at the same time it has introduced a tax that is a terrible blow to their development.
“Tourism is the biggest conduit for the transfer of funds from rich countries to poor ones. The industry acts as a catalyst in many countries; its benefits trickle down to other sectors of the economy yet its impact is not widely acknowledged.
“APD will not only hurt poorer countries but also hurt the UK’s own tour operators," he said.
“The Dutch tried a similar tax but quickly retracted it. Thailand has dropped 50% of its airport fees and Egypt is considering similar measures.”
Rifai warned that measures such as APD will damage the economies of developing countries and lead to unemployment and social unrest.
UNWTO assistant secretary general Geoffrey Lipman added: “With so much uncertainty underlying the global economy, this is not the time to do anything to upset the delicate economic balance.”
He cited the example of the Maldives, where tourism accounts for 70% of the economy, as a country vulnerable to any fall in tourist numbers.
No government representative was on hand at the meeting to defend the decision to recalculate and raise APD, because the UK has withdrawn its membership of UNWTO.
The new APD tax rates come at a time when UNWTO is cautiously optimistic that the decline in the world tourism industry is slowing after the most turbulent 18 months the travel industry has endured in recent years.
International tourist arrivals worldwide are estimated to have declined by seven per cent between January and August 2009, according to the latest figures.
Destinations worldwide recorded a total of 600 million arrivals, down from 643 million in the same period in 2008.
Arrivals in the two summer months of July and August declined by three per cent compared with a drop of eight per cent in the first half of the year. Figures for September also show a slowing in the rate of decline.
But travellers are taking shorter flights, spending less time on holiday and spending less.
Receipts from international tourism are estimated to have reduced in real terms by as much as ten per cent in the first half of the year.
UNWTO forecasts modest growth in the number of tourist arrivals in 2010 with growth at between one and three per cent.
Recovery will be strongest in Asia and Africa, while Europe and the Americas will take longer to regain momentum.
by Phil Davies
Phil Davies
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