Policy update and ETOA support activity

Switzerland

Further to previous updates, we have received confirmation from Switzerland that the Federal tax office is looking into the VAT issue (whether registration might be mandatory for all non-Swiss operators booking services in Switzerland). Meanwhile, it is expected that the previous practice as it applied to non-Swiss operators will be allowed to continue. In the event of a procedural obstacle to this, the Swiss Tourism Federation’s help will be enlisted to take the matter to parliament. So we may continue to inform the process, please email Tim if you are aware of any problems
arising meanwhile through attempted enforcement of the new regime, or of any other adverse consequences.

ETOA surveys

We will shortly distribute a survey intended to map the current impact of Schengen and UK/Ireland visa processes in respect of China and India outbound. We will also invite European incoming operators to respond. The team dedicated to supporting operators and providing relevant resources will grow this autumn. In order to ensure we prioritise correctly, in September we will survey operators to determine which destinations and attractions are most critical for them in terms of overnight taxes, access charges and other operational issues. We will also seek to determine relative
volume from key source markets to help destinations make the most of the opportunity presented by operators and other intermediaries.

Destinations and attractions

Paris

Montparnasse Tower

Contrary to previous speculation, we now have confirmation that the Montparnasse Tower will be open throughout 2019. It will close in 2020 but exact dates of closure have not yet been confirmed.

16th September – car free day
Operators are reminded that cars will not be permitted into Paris on 16th September this year from 10am to 6pm. More information will be published here.

Seville

We will run a seminar in Seville on 27th September, conducted in Spanish, focusing
on destination management and product. For more information please email Jorge.