Peter47
It is said that UK tourism is loosing out because of high visa charges and not being part of the Schengen zone
I feel sure that the border controls for EEA citizens are making the UK too difficult to visit for European tourists. I travel often (by road) from and to the UK, and across the Schengen area. If all EEA nations had the same attitude towards frontier controls crossing Europe would be a nightmare. The UK Govt. needs to take a grown up view to European travellers (after all as has been said they get all the passengers data in advance anyway) and concentrate their efforts on the non-EU arrivals, by which I mean not making checks more rigorous, but actually putting enough staff on the desks to make the waiting time more reasonable.
Regarding visas, the policy is certainly hindering trade. I would cite the example of an Indian company intending to send buyers to a large print exhibition in UK. They wanted to combine their trip with visits to manufacturers in Schengen. They got their Schengen visa no problem, but were aksed to jump through so many hoops to get a UK visa that eventually they decided not to bother with the UK visit at all, and to spend their money elsewhere. UK Immigration Service 0 : 1 European Industry. Brilliant!
The UK is fast getting a reputation like that of the US Immigration system, and that positively hinders tourism. I know more than a few people that won't travel to or through the US anymore because of their immigration queues, interrogations etc.
UK Governments of all hues need to stop listening to the Daily Mail and The Sun, and take an intelligent measured view of Border Control processes.