AS LONDON prepares its implementation of the LEZ for 2008 in a bid to control coach emission levels, operators visiting Venice from this month will be hit by a record price increase proposed by Venetian authorities, which could have a detrimental effect on tourists and travel and tour operators visiting the region.

The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has opposed the recent decision to increase the city entry tax for coaches in Venice, and has requested the European Commission to investigate the “discriminatory” nature of the tax.

Under the Venice scheme, all coaches will pay the entry charge with Euro 4 compliant vehicles paying slightly less.

The price for operators will increase by up to 250 per cent, as the daily new access fee will be €350 for Euro 4 compliant vehicles (previously €180). Non-Euro 4 compliant vehicles will be charged €390 in off-peak periods and €410 in peak periods. Prices increase further during the carnival period (6-12 February 2007) to €430, and reductions for advance bookings are no longer available.

www.iru.org

UKINBOUND chief executive Stephen Dowd has accused the recent Air Passenger Duty survey, published by Halifax Travel Insurance, as being “misleading” in its view of how the increase in APD will effect inbound tourism.

The rise in APD was proposed last month by the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s pre budget report on 6 December, which Dowd referred to as “gesture politics of the worst kind”.

While UKinbound is not disputing the figures quoted by the survey and the resulting claim that the doubling of the tax is insufficient to deter UK holidaymakers from flying abroad, UKinbound says the survey focuses on one element of the visitor economy rather than focusing on the significant impact it could have on the export-earning inbound market.

“Early indications are that we will lose a considerable amount of business to cheaper destinations as a direct result of the unjustified tax increase and if UK citizens continue to travel overseas on large numbers, as indicated by this survey, this will further increase the tourism trade deficit which currently stands at £18bn a year,” says Dowd.

“Presented in isolation in this way the survey is misleading in that it fails to acknowledge the true damage to the UK economy that the increase in APD will cause,” Dowd adds.

www.ukinbound.org

NORTHUMBERLAND’S Alnwick Roadtrain has announced commission payments for coach operators bringing groups to the town’s many attractions.

The commission is based on a coach delivering groups of 20 or more to use the Road Train for getting around Alnwick during their visit.

A flat-fare of £2 applies for the Road Train service, which operates every half-hour on a hop-on hop-off basis between the towns’ major visitor attractions. These include Alnwick Garden, Alnwick Castle – featured in the Harry Potter films – Bailiffgate Museum, Alnwick Town Centre and Marketplace, and one of Britain’s largest second-hand bookshops in a restored former railway station, Barter Books.

The service is available from Easter to the end of September, and coaches can set-down at the coach turning point on Greenwell Road, the entrance for Alnwick Garden.

Complimentary travel facilities are also available to drivers using the Road Train. Further details can be obtained from Alnwick Community Development Trust.

01665 606 093