Nick Varney, chief executive of leisure operator Merlin Entertainments, operator of Legoland and the London Eye, has told The Telegraph that the quickest way to create jobs in the leisure industry would be cutting VAT, thereby restoring the UK’s price competitiveness.

Varney said Britain is now the eleventh biggest international tourism destination, having previously been in the top five - and points to VAT cuts in other nations as a cause.

He told The Telegraph: “If we cut VAT to 5% on hotel rooms and visitor attractions, we could create 80,000 jobs, predominantly among 16-24 year olds of which one in five is currently out of work”.

Varney added that the tourism minister John Penrose and culture secretary Jeremy Hunt told him such a cut would cost £1bn and is not an option at the moment, although Varney himself believes that such a cut would pay for itself in three years.