Top hotels back call to cut the tourist tax

Top hotels back call to cut the tourist tax: Savoy and Green King pub chain bosses join clamour to entice more visitors to the UK

• Hospitality businesses argue  UK economy would be stimulated by more tourists 
• READ MORE – DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Scrap the tourist tax that’s harming Britain

Top hotels and restaurants have backed the Mail’s campaign to scrap the tourist tax.

Bosses of The Savoy hotel and Greene King pub chain have joined calls to axe the levy, saying bringing back VAT-free shopping would help them return to their pre-pandemic glory.

Hospitality businesses argue the UK economy would be stimulated by more tourists dining in their restaurants and staying in their hotels.

Instead, holidaymakers are currently being enticed to European rivals like Paris or Milan by tax refunds on pricey goods, which they do not receive in the UK.

Top retailers including Kurt Geiger and Selfridges have already signed a letter to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, organised by hotelier Sir Rocco Forte, calling for the return of VAT-free shopping.

Bosses of The Savoy hotel and Greene King pub chain have joined calls to axe the levy, saying bringing back VAT-free shopping would help them return to their pre-pandemic glory

Greene King boss Nick Mackenzie said: ‘Anything that the Government can do to encourage tourism is really welcome and important’

Greene King boss Nick Mackenzie said: ‘Anything that the Government can do to encourage tourism is really welcome and important.’

Accor – the parent company of hotels including the Orient Express, ibis and The Savoy – also said retail was a magnet for tourists from the US, China and the Middle East.

UK spokesman Aiden McAuley said: ‘We know that being an attractive shopping destination is a key tool in the UK’s ability to appeal to high-spending overseas tourists.

‘Having a level playing field with other European countries is important if the UK wants to maintain its appeal and gain all the knock-on economic benefits that it delivers.’

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the UK needed a tax regime that ‘incentivises tourism and makes us competitive on the world stage’, including VAT-free shopping.

Ms Nicholls, whose trade body represents 740 firms, said an analysis cited by the Government to justify getting rid of the incentive was ‘inadequate’ and did not consider the effect losing these visitors would have on the wider tourism economy, which contributes £139billion each year.

It comes as venues struggle amid eye-watering cost increases and the repercussions of the pandemic.

Charlie Gilkes, the founder of Inception Group, said VAT-free shopping would offer a ‘real boost’ as ‘busy shops also have a positive knock on to bars, restaurants and hotels’.

He added: ‘With a raft of bad news for the hospitality sector… the return of tourism offers a beacon of hope, especially for London and other [cities].’

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