Press Statement: Scotland’s tourism body responds to the appointment of Liz Truss as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Scottish Tourism Alliance, the leading representative body for Scotland’s tourism industry requests emergency support from the new UK administration:
- Urgent freeze on the energy price cap for households and application of a similar measure for businesses.
- A VAT reduction to 12.5% on supplies relating to hospitality, accommodation and visitor attractions, as was in place during the pandemic
- Deferral of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme repayments
- Urgent support for businesses struggling to secure new energy contracts
- Immediate review of immigration rules and associated costs to help address the significant labour workforce shortages within the sector
- The provision of the necessary funding by Westminster to the Scottish Government to enable a 12-month extension of business rates relief
Marc Crothall MBE, Chief Executive of the Scottish Tourism Alliance said:
“The Scottish Tourism Alliance congratulates Ms Truss on her appointment as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the UK; we look forward to working with the UK Government’s new administration to create supportive policy for the tourism sector in the immediate and longer-term future.
Our tourism and hospitality sectors are facing a cost-of-doing-business-crisis, coping with unprecedented challenges of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, rising energy prices, increasing costs of goods and materials and double-digit inflation which continues to rise.
I welcome Ms Truss’s pledge for immediate action to tackle rising energy bills and increase energy supplies. With households reducing spending dramatically to cope with soaring energy bills, tourism and hospitality are emerging as the sectors in the most precarious of trading conditions.
The cost pressure on businesses to make substantial deposits to secure their supply from energy companies is already making trading impossible for many within our sector. It has been reported that as many as 75% of Scotland’s bars and restaurants will collapse this winter if a business cap on energy prices is not introduced. Some have already been forced to close their doors already.
Our sector is now at a crossroads in deciding how and when to trade, with permanent closure now a serious risk to the majority of businesses. The knock-on effect puts the supplier chain at risk and plunges thousands of households further into economic crisis. The impact on the appeal and competitiveness of Scotland’s tourism sector within a global market will be significantly reduced.
Our asks of the new UK administration are clear. We need an urgent freeze on the energy price cap for households and businesses, VAT reduction on supplies relating to hospitality, accommodation and attractions, deferral of the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme repayments, urgent support for businesses struggling to secure new energy contracts and an immediate review of immigration rules to address the labour workforce shortages within the sector.
Securing a total waiver of business rates for all tourism and hospitality rateable businesses with immediate effect from 1 October for a minimum of 12 months must be a priority in the raft of emergency responses to the cost-of-living crisis which the Scottish Government will announce over the coming weeks; it is imperative that the Westminster provides the necessary funding to the Scottish Government to enable this critically important measure to be implemented.
We would expect that immediate discussions will be underway between the UK and Scottish Governments to avert the collapse of one of Scotland’s and indeed the UK’s major economic drivers and hope that this new relationship will be constructive for all who are reliant on a buoyant tourism economy across the UK.
The STA looks forward to what will hopefully be productive discussions with the UK Government departments over the coming weeks for the benefit of tourism, UK wide.
ENDS
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