Press statement: Scotland’s tourism industry responds to Chancellor statement
“The series of support measures announced by The Chancellor this afternoon are hugely welcomed by Scotland’s tourism industry and go beyond what we had anticipated in terms of the lowering of VAT to 5%. The STA, along with our counterparts at UK Hospitality have campaigned heavily for years for the UK government to cut VAT to 5%; this represents a huge catalyst for the tourism economy and I know this news will come as a huge relief today for thousands of pubs, restaurants, accommodation providers and visitor attractions across Scotland and their employees whose jobs have been given increased protection.
The “kick start” scheme to create more jobs for young people is a huge boost for the tourism sector, as indeed is the announcement of support for businesses taking on new apprentices with the under 25s representing such a large proportion of our workforce, however we will continue to push for support for all employed in the tourism sector. Further tailored support for older people within the sector is still required as the stark reality of the unemployment crisis looms large.
Incentivising the public to support our hospitality industry was one of the recommendations the STA made to the Independent Advisory Group on Economic Recovery and I am pleased to see that this has been included in the raft of support measures announced today for the tourism sector. We must remember that while August marks the start of the school holidays south of the border, Scots are already planning staycations and days out throughout July so we will be pushing for the ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ initiative to be brought forward in alignment with the reopen date of Scotland’s tourism industry on 15th July.”
