AVIATION, THE ECONOMY AND TOURISM

£8.6 billion annual deficit in aviation tourism
That is the difference between the amount of money spent abroad by Britons flying out of the UK (£17.7 billion) and the amount visitors into the UK spend here (£9.1 billion). As fares have become cheaper, so this gap has widened. The number of people persuaded to visit this country as a result of cheap flights is more than offset by the number of Britons tempted abroad by the low fares.

More people will take more money out of the country
Further expansion of aviation, as proposed in the Regional Aviation Studies, will simply ensure that more British people holiday abroad. Remember - the growth in air travel of the next 20/30 years in the UK will be accounted for mainly by leisure trips such as weekend breaks.

Economic madness
It is economic madness that the UK Government is subsidising the aviation industry to the tune of around £7 billion a year to help its citizens to fly abroad to spend £17 billion outside this country. Meanwhile British holiday resorts are crying out for visitors and local economies are suffering.

If the money currently spent abroad was instead spent in this country :

• tourism in the UK would receive a boost;
• new jobs would be created in tourism right across the UK, especially unskilled jobs in the service sector;
• overall income levels would rise in many deprived areas - meaning an increase in individuals' spending power and more tax revenue for Government.

Spreading prosperity
British people visit all parts of the country on holiday while foreign tourists concentrate on the 'hotspots' such as London, York, Edinburgh, Oxford and Stratford-upon-Avon. So more Britons holiday at home would spread prosperity around the country instead of causing over-crowding and 'over-heating' of local economies.

The challenge
The real challenge for the tourist industry is not so much to attract more foreign visitors to Britain, but to persuade British people to holiday in this country.

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