British Airways CEO Requests UK to Reduce Chinese Visa Costs

Willie Walsh, CEO of the company that owns British Airways, wants the UK government to fulfill the promise they made a couple of years ago. The 10-year UK visitor visa for Chinese tourists Visa Costs is very expensive, costing as much as £767. Over the years, visitors from China have reduced because other visas of other countries cost the only 1/10th. The British visa has always been expensive. The student visa costs around INR 25,000 while that of Canada costs only INR 7,500. Schengen visa costs €99 for ten years. Using this visa, you get to travel freely to 26 countries of the Schengen area. The US visitor visa of 10 years costs £119. In 2016, Great Britain only issued 480,000 visas to Chinese as compared to 1.5 million visas issued by Spain, France, and Germany together. The UK is trying its best to boost its tourism industry, like adding 50 more direct weekly flights between UK and China to the already existing 100. But nothing will work out unless the costs are going to reduce. Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, had visited Great Britain back in October 2015. During his visit, he promised that the prices for the 10-year Chinese visa will be brought down. But two years on, nothing has changed. The UK government has failed to notice how big the tourism industry of China is. Every year, around 122 million Chinese travel abroad, most of them visit Schengen countries because of cheap visa costs. The Chinese middle class is richer now and can afford to visit other countries.

Adverse effect on British businesses