British Aviation Tax Effecting Orlando?

The British aviation passenger duty tax (APD) for international flights is set to rise another 8% as of April 2012.  This is just the start of it, and we have seen very little mainstream media publicity about this in the United States.

British and American transnational air travelers are not prepared for the magnitude of the passenger tax increases now or in the coming years.

So what is the big deal for Orlando and Florida tourism and the economic impact of the British aviation passenger duty?

• According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), an organization of senior level travel executives, this incremental tax rise would add another $100 per person in cost to fly to the United States from England in 2012.
• The Aviation Passenger Duty (APD) schedule is based on the length of the international air flight to the foreign country’s capital city. There are 4 travel bands that determine the rate of passenger tax due.
• For those that are math challenged, this would be an extra $400 for a British family of 4 to travelling to Disney World and Universal for the holidays. This is just the beginning.
• Additional rises of over 40%+ (8-10% annually) are scheduled out to the year 2016 which translates to an astounding additional tax each successive year. This means that if this rise is enacted, a family of 4 would pay even more to Florida from Britain just for this tax increase in 2016 over current costs. This may be alarming to many readers.

Obviously for any local Orlando business heavily dependent on British travellers, one had better take notice of what happens here…

For a full WTTC report on the aviation passenger duty and its economic impact on British tourism and travel. According to the WTTC, the proceeds of the aviation duty tax pay down the national British debt and offset the environmental impact of air travel.

What may be a little disconcerting for Americans is the fact that the tax is really aimed at international travel and not domestic travel within Britain. Moreover, new studies by the well respected Oxford Economics group indicate that this tax may have already cost the country at least 90,000 jobs and is strongly discouraging travel growth to the country in 2012 and beyond.

We’ll certainly keep our eye on how this APD tax increase moves forward. This will certainly have a measurable APD impact on Florida tourism. There were over 1.5 million British visitors to the United States in 2010 with an estimated economic impact of over $2 billion to the entire US economy. For the APD economic impact on Orlando tourism and for the state of Florida, the stakes are less but the impact is still well in to the hundreds of millions of dollars. For our readers and for vacation rental guests, Brits love Orlando villas, a fact that is well known locally.

Here are some additional resources to learn more about the APD “A Fair Tax on Flying” and to voice your concerns and opinions:

Orlando Vacation Homes 360 (OVH 360) is a proud member of the British – American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida. Give us a call at 407-966-4144 (Within the US) or 00-1-407-966-4144 (International) or SKYPE us at OVH360 with any questions on booking an Orlando villa. We review them all, but only select a few for our reservations portfolio.