Fuming caravan park owners and visitors demand ‘short-sighted’ Labour scrap hated holiday tax on staycations
CARAVAN park owners have a message for Labour: park the holiday tax now.
One of those making the call is Claire Flower, who runs a site in Paignton, Devon, which has welcomed guests for more than 60 years.
Beverley Holiday Park was started by her grandfather and now 12,000 tourists a year spend their breaks there.
But Claire, 53, fears for the future if Labour bring in a visitor tax of at least £2 per head per night.
She says: “If the Government puts a tax on everyone visiting, that means a lot of families won’t be able to afford it.
“Holidays aren’t just a luxury, people rely on them for their mental health and family time.
READ MORE ON THE HOLS TAX
“Plenty of parents these days work two or three jobs and there can be shift work in families, too. Holidays are often the only place whole families get to sit and eat together.
“The Government talks about wanting people to spend their money here, not in Spain or Portugal or wherever in Europe, but how are people encouraged to do that if they’re going to be taxed for it?”
Clare is a member of the Holiday and Residential Parks Association (Harpa), which wants the Government to abandon plans for local mayors to tax anyone staying overnight on a break in their area.
She believes the tourist tax will affect the whole English Riviera in the South West, which depends heavily on holidaymakers.
Claire says: “The economy of the entire bay will be hit. We employ 180 staff in the summer and 80 all year round.
“We pay our VAT, our business rates, all our taxes and we help the local economy in a really big way with all the visitors we can accommodate who go on and spend in local businesses.
“If our numbers start to dwindle, it’s impossible to say where the impact will hit hardest.”
The park has free indoor and outdoor swimming pools but its utility bills have gone through the roof.
Claire says: “It’s becoming harder and harder to operate but we have such loyal and lovely visitors, so we work hard to keep prices affordable.
“We’ve even got a 30 per cent off Easter holiday offer at the moment to encourage people in.”
The park was founded by Claire’s grandad Stan Jeavons in 1965, and her nephew Adam Furneaux, 22, is the fourth generation to work there.
Claire says: “Grandad would be devastated at the prospect of the tax. English holiday parks like ours contribute £9.2billion in visitor spend into the economy.
“For a lot of people, even if they could afford to go abroad, there may be a health reason they can’t or there might be another reason they choose to holiday in the UK rather than overseas.”
Lee Jenkins, from Abertillery in Gwent, has been visiting Beverley Holiday Park since 1971, when he was three years old.
He spent his honeymoon at the park with wife Julie in the 1990s and visits several times a year.
Taxi driver Lee, 58, says: “We’re supposed to support the UK economy, aren’t we?
“This country needs people holidaying here, not abroad, so we can support local businesses and spend what we earn here rather than overseas.
“It seems so short-sighted to tax people out of UK holidays, and it will impact the whole country’s economy.”
Association Harpa represents 3,000 holiday parks across the UK, from small campsites to major companies.
It believes a holiday tax on British families will place extra financial strain when many are already struggling with the cost of living.
The organisation’s director general, Debbie Walker, says: “Holiday parks and campsites offer some of the most affordable holidays in the UK and this tax risks pricing people out of breaks at a time when money is so tight.
“While we fully recognise the financial pressures facing local authorities, a holiday tax adding around £100 to a typical two-week family break is not the right solution.
“If we want people to choose UK holidays, taxing them for doing so sends exactly the wrong message.”
Park Holidays UK, which operates more than 50 sites in the UK, says that a tourism tax would be “totally self-defeating” as well as punishing hard-working families who choose to take a holiday in Britain.
Chief marketing officer Brad May says: “The Government imagines a holiday levy would help raise revenues for cash-strapped local councils.
“But it’s far more likely that visitor numbers to these areas would drop as families turn to other destinations which are not slamming a tax on their fun.
“When our guests take a well-earned break, many enjoy visiting nearby attractions, going out for a meal and spending money in local shops.
“So, it’s these businesses which will also suffer as an unintended consequence of this move.”
All of them are backing The Sun’s Hands Off Our Hols campaign.
It is a sentiment echoed by Alfie Best, who owns Wyldecrest holiday parks.
He says: “When you think of a budget holiday in this country you automatically have a picture of a caravan park in your mind. They have been the backbone of holidays for a generation.
“This tax will surely drive holidaymakers abroad in search of better value getaways.
“If it comes into force, the tax will ultimately lead to the closure of many parks and lots of job losses.”
