UK accused of 'sabotaging' its tourism industry

World Travel and Tourism Council says 'pointless' government measures are putting off visitors to Britain

Tourists take photographs in front of Buckingham Palace in London. Getty Images

The UK is “sabotaging” its own tourist industry by creating unnecessary barriers to travel, a report has found.

It shows that spending by international visitors is still £2.2 billion ($2.94 billion) less than before the Covid pandemic.

According to analysis by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), people visiting Britain spent £40.3 billion last year, down 5.3 per cent from 2019, representing a £2.3 billion loss to the economy.

Julia Simpson, the global tourism body’s president and chief executive, blamed the decline on "deliberate policy choices".

These include electronic travel authorisation (ETA), digital permits required to travel to the UK, the lack of tax-free shopping and air passenger duty, all of which she described as “pointless”.

Ms Simpson said when it comes to spending by international visitors “we've not got back to where we need to be, whereas the rest of the world has”. This means the “UK is losing value share compared to other European partners”, she said.

She contrasted the commitment of the Labour government of Keir Starmer to economic growth and its willingness to intervene in sectors such as steel to its attitude towards tourism.

A tourist on the Greenwich Prime Meridian marked out in London. EPA / NEIL HALL

“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," she said. "We are sabotaging ourselves."

Ms Simpson criticised the decision to cut tourism authority VisitBritain's budget by more than 40 per cent, which she said was damaging the UK’s ability to market the country to tourists.

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

Ms Simpson said boosting UK tourism "needs to be led" by the Prime Minister rather than the Treasury, which she added was “taking more and more taxes” from tourists “and undermining this very, very important sector”.

“Other European countries see the economic value of travel but in the UK, it’s taken for granted," she said. “The government is risking travel and tourism’s stagnation and long-term decline, without targeted action and investment. Globally, travellers are spending more than ever before, while other countries are benefitting."

According to WTTC’s 2025 Economic Impact Research report, the sector contributed £286 billion to the UK economy last year, 3.9 per cent more than in 2019.

Britain's heritage, hospitality and cultural appeal are unmatched

Stuart Andrew

Record numbers of tourists from the UAE and the Gulf are expected to visit the UK this year and spend an estimated £3.5 billion. In its inbound tourism forecast for 2025, VisitBritain research has found 548,000 UAE visitors will travel to the UK – up 10 per cent on the 2024 estimate.

But jobs in travel and tourism supported 4.2 million livelihoods last year, which is still below 2019 levels.

The opposition Conservative Party’s shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew claimed Labour was "punishing Britain's tourism industry with its job tax, by slashing business rates relief and hiking air duties".

"Britain's heritage, hospitality and cultural appeal are unmatched," he said. "Labour must get serious and deliver a real plan that promotes Britain to the world."

In response, the government said: "The UK is one of the most visited countries in the world and international tourism drives billions into our economy.

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