BUSINESS NEWS


UKinbound chief Joss Croft warns: ‘There is a false assumption visitors will continue to choose the UK


even if we hike prices’


ETA hike signals Home Office border priorities


Inbound leaders voice fury at planned 60% rise in UK fee. Ian Taylor reports The transit passenger exemption,


The Home Office had good and bad news for the sector in announcing last week it would exempt passengers transiting via the UK from needing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) while increasing the cost of an ETA from £10 to £16. Aviation leaders had lobbied hard


to remove transit passengers from ETA requirements, but no one foresaw a 60% rise in the fee coming eight days after the scheme was extended from applying to visitors from six Gulf states to those from 54 countries, including the US.


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which only affects Heathrow and Manchester, will be a trial and kept under review, while the fee hike requires a separate legislative amendment so its introduction will depend on when “Parliamentary time allows”. Industry reaction to the fee rise


was furious. Tourism Alliance director Richard Toomer described it as “staggering” and “a kick in the teeth”, and UKinbound chief Joss Croft called it “a staggering blow” just as ETA requirements for visitors from Europe


roll out on April 2. He warned: “There is a false assumption visitors will continue to choose the UK even if we hike prices.” Airlines UK chief executive


Tim Alderslade urged the transit exemption be “made permanent” but said the ETA fee increase “makes little sense”, while Abta director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge denounced “another tax rise to the sector”. The Home Office has previously


Continued on page 78 travelweekly.co.uk


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