The 5.3 per cent increase in the “entry fee” in the UK went into effect this month. Applies to visitors from the vast majority of nations, including the two most populous countries in the world: China and India. People from the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea and Singapore can enter the United Kingdom without a visa. But travelers from many European nations can not. They include Bosnia, Moldova, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and, in normal times, Ukraine. Citizens of a wide range of countries with a growing number of outgoing tourists, such as Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey, require a UK visa even for short breaks. At 100 £ for a country, the fee for a visit to the UK does not agree with the Schengen visa. The European leave costs 80 € (69 £), with children aged six to 12 being charged half and children aged five and under traveling free of charge. It allows travel to 26 European countries, including France, Italy, Spain and Greece. A family of four would pay € 240 (20 206) or less for Europe, compared to 400 400 for the UK. Top British incoming tourism executives have criticized the move. Joss Croft, CEO of UKinbound, said: “The decision to raise visa fees is a complete mistake. “The government says the UK is open to business and ready to welcome international visitors, but instead of making positive, up-to-date changes that would make the UK visa system more internationally competitive, it has taken the opposite step to simply increase prices. “The UK tourism industry is already at the bottom of the list for international price competitiveness. “Further visitor taxation will only slow down the recovery of the industry, an industry that is the second largest export of services in the country, second only to financial services. “International tourism is a competitive industry, so the government needs to invest more in promoting Britain abroad and pursuing smart visa and funding policies that support the recovery and growth of the industry, not hinder it.” Bernard Donoghue – co-chair of the London Tourism Recovery Board and director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions – also criticized the fee increase. “Last year tourism in the UK lost about 200 200 million every day,” he said. “Our industry is just being repaired and so anything that makes the UK less accessible or less attractive to our immediate neighbors is an obstacle to recovery and growth.” Paul Charles, CEO of travel consulting firm The PC Agency, said: “The UK should be visa-free at the moment, visa-free and I’m surprised the government continues to create further obstacles for enter the United Kingdom. “An increase in the visa fee sends the wrong message and is hardly a sign that Britain is ‘open’ for business or leisure. “This should be the year that the government does everything it can to attract every visitor, and that includes abolishing fees for a temporary period.” A Home Office spokesman said: “Visa fees play a key role in ensuring sustainable financing of the border and immigration system, reducing dependence on British taxpayers. “Increasing the visit visa fee is necessary to address the wider costs and pressures on the immigration and border system and to fund other substantial changes.” The last increase was in 2019. The Ministry of Interior estimates that the actual cost of processing a visit visa is 135., About one third higher than the fee imposed. VisitBritain predicts that overseas arrivals in 2022 in England, Wales and Scotland will be just 52 per cent of 2019 levels. In October 2021, the government revoked the right of European Union visitors to the United Kingdom to use national identity cards, requiring them to obtain a passport instead. An estimated 300 million Europeans have IDs but no passports
