Government hikes ETA fee 60% for tourists coming to the UK. Tourism Alliance brands the move ‘staggering’.

The Government has just announced that it is going to be increasing the cost of an ETA 60% for eligible non-visa nationals coming to the UK.

The Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) is a new permission to travel that will be needed by all non-visa travellers. The scheme is due to complete its roll-out to European travellers in April this year.

Throughout the roll-out the cost has been confirmed at £10. Now, just at the scheme has opened up to Americans and other important long-haul markets, and is about to roll-out to Europeans, the cost has been hiked to £16 per person.

Richard Toomer, Executive Director of the Tourism Alliance, said:

“It is staggering that the Government has taken the decision to further increase the costs for tourists visiting the UK especially in light of its ambition to grow inbound tourism numbers and deliver economic growth.

“This is especially a kick in the teeth for our European visitors that just as they are required for the first time ever to apply for advance permission to travel to the UK, the cost for doing so has been put up by 60%.

“Even before this hike to £16 per person, ETA was already an additional cost for travellers, and crucially uncompetitive against to the EU’s own forthcoming travel authorisation scheme (ETIAS) both in terms of cost (EUR7 vs £16), validity period (3 years for an EU ETIAS vs 2 years for a UK ETA) and in terms of the exemptions. The Government has just made matters worse.

“The Government recently announced a target to grow our inbound tourism to 50m visitors by 2030 up from, 38m in 2023. Hitting that target will not happen if the Government keep viewing tourists simply as a cash cow. Tourists make decisions in a competitive global marketplace. We are already 113th out of 119 countries for price competitiveness. We need the Government to help address that challenge, not compound it.”

Notes:

1. The Government’s announcement is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-for-a-more-efficient-immigration-system