UK Hospitality urges extension of VAT cut to encourage tourism and hospitality sector

UK Hospitality has called on the Government to extend and extend the VAT cut on hospitality to boost demand and help with tourism and tourism.

It follows today's release of figures showing how COVID19 is affecting the UK travel and tourism industry.

In Q2 2020 the number of foreigners visited 96%, and spent 97% less than in Q2 2019

The hospitality and travel agency business recorded the strongest decrease on sales in the first Nationwide lockdown and fell to 9.3% of the February figure in May 2020.

Domestic and international passenger air traffic fell in April 2020 to below 2%, the same as in February 2020.

In the three months to June 2020, activity in hospitality by visitors dropped by 21.5% compared to the same three months of 2019

UKHospitality boss Kate Nicholls commented: "The sudden and colossal drop-off in the number of inbound tourists recorded last year makes for shocking reading for the hospitality sector. As the figures show, 2020 saw a key economic sector take a huge financial hit and the result was job losses, particularly for younger workers.