UKinbound, the trade association for inbound travel businesses in the UK has slammed the UK Government's decision to persist with the planned increase for Air Passenger Duty, arguing that the rise will discourage overseas travellers

from visiting Britain.

Mary Rance CEO of UKinbound said: ‘Inbound tourism has the potential to help bring the UK out of recession. Overseas visitors spent ?16.4bn ($23.4bn) here in 2008, and with the current exchange rates and the potential to attract even more tourists, that figure could be even higher in 2009.

?However, the move to increase APD, as well as the massive Visa costs levied against overseas visitors, will weaken our international competitiveness and deter travellers will from visiting the UK.?

The association said that this rise will see taxes on flights between the UK and Europe increase rise by 10% to ?11 ($16) in November 2009 and by ?12 ($18) in 2010. US travellers, the UK?s main market for tourism, will see their taxes rise from ?40 to ?60 (from $59 to $88) in 2010.

For standard long-haul visitors travelling over 6,000 miles (including Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia, three key inbound markets), their taxes will rise from ?40 to ?85 (from $59 to $125) in 2010. Business visitors will also be severely affected with taxes for travellers on any flights above economy rising to anything up to ?170 ($249) from 2010.

A UK visa currently costs ?67 ($98), compared to a Schengen area visa, which permits entry to 24 European countries and is charged at E.60 ($79).