Is Britain’s tourism industry at risk?

It was reported last week that many in Britain’s tourism industry fear for the country’s future as a tourist destination, as the government chose to cut funding to the national tourist body, VisitBritain, when they’ve made it clear that in fact, the organization needs more money to protect one of the country’s most important industries.

Tourism officials are worried that tourists, especially those from nouveau riche countries like India and China will pass Britain over with the prohibitive visa cost (jumping from 36 to 63 pounds) and the new measures that require visitors to supply biometric information. The fact that citizens from these newly mobile countries can buy a single visa for the rest of the European Union may have many opting to leave the UK out of their itinerary.

David Andrews, chief executive of the Yorkshire Tourist Board says, “The visa is effectively a tax on everyone who wants to visit, which discourages visitors. Tourism is a key economic driver for Yorkshire and if potential visitors are put off visiting the UK then this would ultimately result in a negative impact for the Yorkshire tourism industry. The Olympics in the UK in 2012 is a fantastic opportunity for us to align our costs with the rest of Europe and lower our visa charges.”