The Tourism Alliance has slammed the DCMS for underinvestment and “its increased fiscal and regulatory burden” on tourism businesses.

The attack was included in the Alliance’s submission to the Culture, Media and Sport committee’s tourism inquiry into the UK tourism sector.

The Tourism Alliance, comprised of trade associations and trade bodies in the tourism sector, has submitted evidence to the inquiry that it says shows how “the UK has underperformed the average world growth rate in both inbound and domestic tourism over the last 10 years and urgent intervention is required if this trend is to be reversed”.

The organisation said in its executive summary of the submission that: “Much of the reason for this is due to a decline in the competitive position of the UK tourism industry in the international market due to the increased fiscal and regulatory burden and underinvestment by the DCMS.”

The inquiry aims to look at the challenges and opportunities for the inbound tourism industry, how supportive the DCMS is of the industry, the structure and funding of sponsored bodies in the tourism sector and the effect of the current tax regime on the industry’s competitiveness. Details: www.tourismalliance.com