ETOA newsletter

Germany and VAT

At time of writing, Germany still intends to change the tax treatment of non-EU agents and operators who buy German product and sell to consumers, effective 1^st January. If the change applies to all product delivered from that date, irrespective of when it was sold, this may mean operators have to cancel or operate at a loss. In principle, they must register for VAT and pay German sales tax on the final retail price charged for all services delivered in Germany. They would be able to reclaim VAT on any individual services they bought directly, but not the VAT charged on packaged German product they bought from an EU intermediary. This risks double taxation.

No formal assessment of the impact on tax revenues has been made available. Modelling by industry suggests that, even if only a few percent of inbound business were deterred, the potential loss to Germany could be well over €100million before costing the administrative complexity of collecting tax overseas. For further information, please contact policy@etoa.org

Operators and agents in non-EU markets who wish to sell German product may wish to contact their local Germany Embassy or Consulate to request further information as to how this scheme will operate. Equally, they may prefer to wait and see. It is not obvious how Germany would be able to collect tax from markets worldwide, nor that domestic tax authorities would support such efforts especially if their own taxpayers may be subject to double taxation, as above.

Climate Action: The Glasgow Declaration

Next week, the Glasgow Declaration will be launched at COP26. This is a consensus-building initiative which sets out the key elements of climate action planning: measure; decarbonise; regenerate; collaborate; finance. It calls for public commitment and action in tourism to cut emissions at least in half over the next decade and reach Net Zero emissions as soon as possible before 2050. ETOA is a launch partner and supporting signatory. For a recording of an introductory session, click here. To become a signatory, please click here.

At this Friday’s Global European Marketplace in London, ETOA climate action partners including Terraverde, Tourism Declares a Climate Emergency and Travelife for Tour Operators will be networking with members to discuss how declaration can turn into delivery: reducing emissions, mitigating remaining footprint and reporting progress.

For more on this topic, see our climate page.

For guidance please see our Brexit Post-Transition page and the member-only guiding regulation page.

Since 1st October 2021, EU national ID cards are not accepted for most travellers entering the UK. This includes travellers arriving directly into Northern Ireland but not arriving by land from Ireland (if travelling on to Great Britain a passport is required valid for duration of stay). EU nationals resident in the UK who have applied for the EU Settlement Scheme can continue to use an ID card (full exemption list).

Since 28th September 2021, UK registered vehicles require a UK sticker to be displayed instead of GB when driving in the EU except in Ireland. Further information here.

Multilingual pages

ETOA’s website now has landing pages to provide a short introduction to our activities for readers in French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Check our latest statistics, opinion, and research pieces below and on the Insight Hub:

ETC Domestic and Intra-European Travel Sentiment Wave 8
The eighth wave of online research looking at the extent to which Europeans are planning travel, their concerns and what factors are likely to influence behaviour.

ETC Handbook on Encouraging Sustainable Tourism Practices
A detailed synopsis that explores what sustainable tourism is, why it is important and what destinations and businesses around the world are doing to encourage its adoption.  The centrepiece of the report consists of twenty case studies on sustainable tourism.

ETC Long Haul Barometer Oct 21
The latest update to attitudes to travel from long haul origin markets.

IATA Air traveller response to COVID-19 Wave 7
The latest wave of IATA survey detailing air travellers’ sentiment around Covid responses globally.

Amadeus Rebuild Travel survey 2021
Findings from a survey of 1,000 international travellers in 9 countries across the globe, which finds that while the majority are eager to travel internationally there remains concern regarding the clarity of guidelines/restrictions as well as the potential risk of catching COVID-19 while travelling.

UNWTO Barometer Oct21
The latest UNWTO Barometer pulls together the latest data on the volume and value of international tourism and sentiment among its panel of tourism experts.

VisitBritain Inbound COVID-19 Sentiment Tracker – Wave 3
A survey of 7,500 potential travellers to the UK conducted in later summer 2021 across 13 markets in Europe, Asia and North America with a focus on intentions, the planning process and travel preferences.

WTTC Government Policies Supporting Recovery
A round-up of various policies adopted by governments around the globe to try and support the travel and tourism sector, whether in the form of fiscal measures, liquidity support, protecting workers or facilitating travel.