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ondon is busy — there isn’t a query about it. Anybody who has visited Soho on the weekend or tried to purchase a pint at a heaving Metropolis pub on a Thursday night can vouch for that.
And there are many international voices within the combine because the capital approaches peak vacationer season.
However are there sufficient?
Spending by abroad guests having fun with holidays in London is the proverbial icing on the cake that usually make the distinction between purple and black on the backside of the accounts on the finish of the yr.
For Theatreland these vacationer {dollars} are extra very important than ever as venues desperately attempt to make up for the massively difficult darkish years of pandemic.
So the very last thing they want is the Authorities holding again the variety of folks visiting the capital.
However as Coronary heart of London enterprise chief Ros Morgan, in addition to extremely revered cultural bosses akin to producer Sonia Friedman, and SOLT’s Emma De Souza, clarify on these pages immediately, that’s precisely what is occurring.
The Treasury continues to insist that VAT procuring performs solely a really minor function in London’s world enchantment to vacationers. However that isn’t what they’re saying in Paris, Milan and Madrid.
It’s like sending out the England cricket staff to face Australia with solely 10 gamers. Why on earth would you do it if you happen to didn’t need to?
The Authorities has stated it would take heed to the “proof” earlier than making a last resolution on the way forward for VAT-free procuring. It ought to pay heed to the cultural leaders making their case immediately.
