This week, the House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Select Committee published its report on Promoting Britain Abroad, within which Walpole's research into inbound British high-end tourism has been prominently credited. In the report, the DCMS Select Committee highlighted the importance of tax-free shopping and its contribution to tourism in the UK, and criticised the Government for the cancellation of the reinstatement of the scheme.
As you will know from reading our report 'What It’s Worth: Enabling the Return of the £30bn High-End Tourism Sector' and our recent campaigning, Walpole sees the reintroduction of tax-free shopping as a crucial tool to accelerate our country's post-pandemic recovery.
Furthermore, the DCMS Select Committee also recommended the simplification of visas for visitors and a new temporary recovery visa for sectors worst affected by labour shortages. All these recommendations chime with the proposals from our recent tourism report, as well as policy recommendations made by our partners at New West End Compnay (NWEC) and Association of International Retail (AIR).
Walpole is directly quoted in the report emphasising the contribution of the sector to UK employment:
"Walpole, which represents the UK’s luxury brands, reported that marketing campaigns in France, Italy and Spain were encouraging British shoppers to buy there rather than at home. It told us that the British luxury sector supported more than 160,000 sustainable jobs throughout the UK and so any loss in profits or shift in focus away from the UK would 'lead to job losses in the UK and a reduction made in investment in people.'"
We will now await with interest the new Government’s response to this report, and call on them to adopt its recommendations.
If you would like to know more about this report, or our wider public policy work, please email us at [email protected]
