Memorandum submitted by English Association
of Self Catering Operators (EASCO)
1. EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1.1 EASCO is the trade association for the
self-catering holiday industry in England, representing business
owners and agencies that market and manage properties on their
behalf.
1.2 The challenges facing UK tourism are
seen to be:
— The low cost of overseas holidays.
— Business taxation, regulation and
property prices.
— A generation is unused to holidays
at home.
— DCMS does not specifically champion
"holidays at home".
— The poor state of the national infrastructure.
1.3 VisitBritain is seen as a well-managed,
effective organisation but its priorities as set by HM Government
should be adjusted. In particular its resources should not be
used to replicate booking agency services in the public sector.
1.4 Adequate funding for VisitBritain is
essential, especially with regard to the 2012 Olympic Games.
1.5 The structure of tourism support and
promotion in England includes too many different organisations
and multiple tiers that could potentially be more effective if
rationalised and we propose that a study of the options be commissioned.
1.6 The level of taxation is already a factor
in the loss of business to overseas destinations and any "bed
tax" would be strongly opposed.
1.7 EASCO supports "green" tourism
initiatives. The encouragement of more eco-friendly holidays at
home should be a component of government policy on reducing the
national carbon footprint. DCMS should support the national benchmarking
of eco-friendliness for tourism businesses.
1.8 It should be a key DCMS objective to
ensure that the potential negative effects of the 2012 Olympic
Games are not realised.
2. ABOUT EASCO
2.1 EASCO represents the self-catering holiday
industry in England. Other separate associations represent the
industry in other countries of the UK. The members of EASCO comprise:
— Holiday home agencies specialising
in self-catering accommodation.
— Associations of business owners which
are either local associations or wider groups for marketing purposes.
— Individual owners of self-catering
businesses.
2.2 In total EASCO represents an estimated
25,000 bed spaces and their business owners. A voluntary Council,
supported by a Chief Executive who manages its affairs on a day-to-day
basis, manages the Association. Members own both urban and rural
self-catering businesses although the latter are more common.
2.3 EASCO provides members with information
and advice on a regular basis and marketing exposure through its
website. It seeks to bring issues of importance for the industry
to the attention of decision makers in government and relevant
public bodies, for the greater good of the industry and the rural
economy of England. It is a two-way channel of communication with
a widely dispersed and varied industry.
3. EASCO SUBMISSION
3.1 The Challenges Facing Tourism
3.1.a Notwithstanding the recent increases
in the taxation of flights, it remains very cheap to take a holiday
abroad. The low cost and easy availability of short holidays abroad,
together with the relative strength of Sterling, is adversely
affecting the industry in the UK.
3.1.b Business taxation, increasing regulation,
and high property prices have combined to result in holidays in
England being relatively expensive.
3.1.c A generation has now grown up associating
holidays with foreign travel. This generation often does not appreciate
the merits of taking a holiday in their own country.
3.1.d Whilst funding is allocated to VisitBritain
for its England marketing campaigns it is not a specific policy
objective of the DCMS to encourage UK residents to take their
holidays in the UK. We believe that this should be an objective,
to be passed on to VisitBritain, with the necessary financial
support to achieve it, on both environmental and economic grounds.
3.1.e The national infrastructure, in particular
transport of all forms, and the maintenance of streets and public
spaces, is a key part of the national tourism product. The poor
state of the infrastructure, and poor standards of cleaning in
public places, is an additional challenge to the industry as a
whole. We believe that DCMS should ensure that the importance
of infrastructure to the tourism industry is well recognised across
government departments and that DCMS should champion the cause
of a high quality public realm and efficient transport in the
UK as important to this major industry. The 2012 Olympics offer
a particular opportunity for the country to be seen worldwide
as efficient and well presented, or otherwise.
3.2 Effectiveness of DCMS and VisitBritain
3.2.a The DCMS carries out its most important
functions through VisitBritain. We believe VisitBritain to be
a professionally run organisation offering value for money for
the taxpayer and an effective service to the country. Its objectives
however are set by the DCMS.
3.2.b EASCO opposes the development of systems
that, together with largely public sector booking agent partners,
channel business away from private sector agencies and towards
public sector booking services. We believe this is an inappropriate
and unfair use of scarce public funds to compete with the private
sector. DCMS should concentrate on promoting and supporting the
industry that offers holidays in the UK rather than directing
VisitBritain to use public funds in this way. We support the provision
of online information services that offer links to private sector
booking engines to enable users to easily move from information
to reservation.
3.3 Structure and Funding
3.3.a It is essential, especially in the
years leading up to the 2012 Olympics, that VisitBritain is adequately
funded by DCMS to ensure it has the resources to support the industry
and stimulate demand for holidays in England and the UK.
3.3.b EASCO observes that, in England, we
have several layers of support for tourism:
— VisitBritain at UK and England level,
according to market.
— Regional Development Agencies and
the regional tourism bodies that they support.
— Local authorities and tourism promotion
bodies at local level, supported by local authorities in many
cases. Whilst the situation varies, in some cases there are structures
at county level and more localised bodies as well, amounting to
four or even five layers of organisation, down to organisations
promoting a single town.
3.3.c EASCO does not offer a prescription
for the rationalisation of this structure but we believe that
there may be a case for reducing the number of layers. We would
like to see an inquiry examine the structure in depth to determine
whether a simplified structure could be more effective and make
better use of the available funds.
3.3.d EASCO believes that in the long term
the industry should play a greater role in the management of quality
and other regulatory schemes and would wish to play its part in
that process.
3.4 TAXATION
3.4.a EASCO opposes any suggestion of a
so-called "bed tax". This would raise the cost of holidays
in the UK even further and reduce the industry's competitiveness
even further as compared to holiday provision abroad.
3.4.b The universal rate of VAT in the UK
is a further hindrance to competitiveness. A reduced rate of VAT
on holiday services at home would tend to encourage more holidays
in England with a resulting economic and environmental benefit
if more people took their holidays at home.
3.5 Data on Tourism
3.5.a Whilst EASCO makes no policy submission
on this topic we observe that the quality of data collected through
surveys is poor and therefore caution should be exercised, by
the Select Committee, in relying on industry data.
3.6 Environmental Tourism
3.6.a EASCO supports the increasing trend
towards environmental awareness in tourism and "green holidays".
It is practical and desirable for holidays to be "green"
and a number of EASCO members specifically target the environmentally
conscious consumer with some success.
3.6.b Holidays taken in England are relatively
eco-friendly compared to foreign travel by air, and support the
English economy, especially in many rural and coastal areas where
the opportunities for employment are poor and the economy weak.
3.6.c At present a variety of schemes benchmark
tourism businesses with regard to their eco-credentials. We propose
that DCMS should establish a policy objective to create a single
national standard for the accreditation of tourism businesses
with regard to their environmental impact and both DCMS and VisitBritain
should support such a scheme.
3.7 The 2012 Olympics
3.7.a EASCO does not foresee a great effect
on tourism in England, outside London, as a result of the 2012
Olympics.
3.7.b We are concerned however that there
could be negative effects as visitors who would, in any other
year, have come to England, may choose not to for fear of crowds,
extra costs, or difficulty in finding accommodation. It should
be a DCMS objective to prevent this from happening and VisitBritain
should be appropriately resourced to deliver on this objective.
March 2007
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