The UK tourist tax is hurting the UK – not just London, says the boss of luxury jeweler Berry’s
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The British tourist tax is hurting the UK – not just London, says the boss of a luxury jeweller.
Simon Walton, managing director of Berry’s, said visitor spending in places like York has dried up following the end of VAT-free shopping.
His remarks highlight that it’s not just big luxury companies like Burberry — whose boss Gerry Murphy said the policy was a “spectacular self-defense” — that are suffering.
Walton said, “The tourists may be coming, but they’re certainly not spending because of the restrictions on duty-free shopping.”
Berry’s has 12 stores in Leeds, Nottingham, Hull, Windsor, Newcastle and York and more than 120 employees. But sales are falling because there are fewer Chinese customers.
He said: ‘They used to go shopping in York for two, three hours. There are beautiful streets that were full of Chinese tourists from June to October and now there are very few – those who come are clearly not shopping.’
Walton said Chinese visitors typically buy watches worth thousands of pounds.
Tourists are instead taking advantage of tax breaks in Europe, he said, hitting destinations like Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bath and Windsor. He rejected claims that the Treasury could not afford to bring back tax breaks for tourists.