The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has aired its opposition to the recent UK Home Office proposal to increase the costs of UK Electronic Travel Authorizations (ETAs) by 60 percent to GBP 16.

The Association released a statement from director-general Willie Walsh on Friday, 17th January.

In the statement, Walsh declared: “If implemented, it would be a self-inflicted blow to the UK’s tourism competitiveness. In November the government laid out plans to increase tourist arrivals by 30 percent to reach 50 million annually by 2030 in pursuit of tourism’s economic benefits. Gouging these travelers with a 60% increase in the ETA is a very bad start. The added cost would come on top of the Air Passenger Duty (APD), the biggest travel tax in the world, which itself will increase again in April. Let’s not forget that travelers have a choice and the EU’s ETIAS will be of far better value: costing about a third as much as this proposed pricing and lasting a year longer.”

Walsh remarked that it is time for the UK government to see the big picture: that it has everything to gain by making the UK a more cost-competitive travel destination, including the substantial tax revenues that travelers generate. 

He concluded by saying: “It makes no sense to discourage visitors with high costs even before they set foot in the country.”

At present, UK aviation and tourism supports 1.6 million jobs and contributes US$160.7 billion to the country’s GDP.