HC Deb 19 October 1999 vol 336 cc428-9W
Miss McIntosh

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of the impact of the level of airport tax on the tourism industry in the United Kingdom. [94160]

Janet Anderson

My Department has made no systematic assessment of the impact of Air Passenger Duty (APD). APD was introduced in November 1994, and there were 20.8 million overseas visits to the UK in 1994. In 1998, there were almost 26 million overseas visits to the UK.

I am, however, aware of the travel and tourism industry's concerns about the APD and have passed these on to ministerial colleagues in the Treasury.