European Union tourism recovery plan could deliver arrivals duty free opportunity

Moodie Davitt Report shows a new window of opportunity could open for arrivals duty free in the European Union (EU) as part of a wider program for tourism in the region announced by The European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC)

That’s according to ETRC President Dr. Jennifer Cords and ETRC Secretary General Julie Lassaigne, who updated The Moodie Davitt Report this week on its latest efforts to introduce a new channel of trading in the EU. That update followed a gathering of the ETRC Board and Supervisory Board in Hamburg this week, hosted by Gebr. Heinemann.

Consultants to the EU Commission have begun studying how governments can support regional tourism infrastructure post-pandemic – and are approaching travel retail industry stakeholders about the issues at stake.

A study is expected to be produced by January 2023, which will feed into an impact assessment by the EU Commission which will consider several policy options, hopefully by Q2 next year. This will cover areas such as VAT relief for tourism, but industry campaigners are optimistic that it can also include a proposal to amend EU excise duty and VAT directives to allow duty free sales for inbound passengers to the EU, as part of a new tourism framework.

The ETRC has been lobbying for the introduction of arrivals duty free since 2020. It accelerated these efforts in late 2021 against the backdrop of new legislation that was proposed to formally permit the French Eurotunnel rail terminal at Coquelles to sell duty free goods.

Source: The Moodie Davitt Report