The UK government has been accused of sabotaging the UK’s tourism industry as an analysis found that spending by international visitors was more than £2.2 billion ($2.9 billion), below pre-pandemic levels last year.

A report by the London-based World Travel and Tourism Council, representing the sector, found that people visiting the UK spent £40.3 billion in 2024, down by 5.3 per cent from 2019.

The report found that travel and tourism contributed £286 billion to the UK’s economy in 2024, up 3.9 per cent from 2019, while jobs in the sector supported 4.2 million UK livelihoods last year.

Julia Simpson, president of the WTTC and an adviser to Tony Blair during his time as prime minister, attributed the decline to measures she described as ”deliberate policy choices’’ that have created travel barriers.

These included introducing electronic travel authorisations, digital permits, a lack of tax-free shopping, and increased air passenger duty.

Ms Simpson told the PA news agency that the UK was not back to where it needed to be (on spending by international visitors), whereas the rest of the world was.

She added that the UK was losing value share compared to other European partners.

”This government is all about growth. They’re looking at how to make money. They are trying to save steel plants. They are looking to see what we can do about our water companies.

”Yet here we have a private sector enterprise, travel and tourism, contributing 10 per cent of UK GDP, creating jobs, but we are not prioritising it in any way,’’ Ms Simpson said.

She said the government was keen on promoting the regions, so a marketing wing was needed.

“You need to sell the UK. You need to sell Harry Potter. You need to sell Jane Austen. You need to sell Richard III. It’s really important that you create stories about the UK so that international visitors come to all our regions,” she said.

Ms Simpson added that boosting UK tourism needed to be led by the prime minister, referring to France and Spain as strong examples.

However, a government spokesperson said the UK was one of the most visited countries in the world, and international tourism drives billions into its economy.

”We are supporting the continued growth of this industry and will be launching a national visitor economy strategy. This autumn will help us meet our ambition to welcome 50 million international visitors a year to the UK by 2030,” the spokesperson added. 

(dpa/NAN)