Brexit: Disaster or Blessing for Tourism Industry?
Surely, the UK’s decision to leave the European Union announced after the referendum on June 23, 2016, was a shock for the whole world. It has jeopardized the future of Queen Elizabeth’s kingdom and triggered hot discussions about the impacts of Brexit on the independent UK’s cooperation with other countries, economic situation and other matters. However, for travelers around the world, the ultimate question is: How Brexit will influence UK tourism? Here is some information on the subject.
Brexit: Flights
Approximately 1.3 million UK nationals live in other EU countries. According to the statistics, UK residents made more than 8.7 million visits in other EU countries in the year 2014. However, as UK will be leaving EU happened the opportunities to cross the border freely might reduce. England’s access to the European Common Aviation Area (ECAA) made flights between Europe and the UK cheaper and more flexible in terms of time-management. People were able to make frequent trips and even commute between the two countries, owing to the reduced prices. Thus, on the one hand, after the UK’s vote to exit the EU airlines might restructure into separate companies, which will reduce flexibility and increase flight costs.
On the other hand, experts claim that, since London is a center of world aviation it is unlikely that routes to and from the UK will be affected. Moreover, if you are a US resident and plan to visit England in the near future, do not worry – owing to EU-US treaty on open skies, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will have easy access to America.
Brexit: Visa and Insurance
The case of Brexit might put the tin hat on the European Health Insurance Card, which entitles UK citizens to free or reduced-cost treatment in other EU countries. It was an important question among UK tourists if they will need a visa to cross the border and will travel insurances become more expensive. This is an important issue not only for those who travel to the UK for leisure but also for employees working across the EU. Work visas, insurances and legislation have simplified their migration and enabled different cross-border operations. Experts informed that the UK still maintains joint deals with 16 countries, with Australia, New Zealand, Montenegro and Serbia among them, and it is likely, that more similar deals will be concluded with some of the EU members in the near future. As the United Kingdom is not in the Schengen Area, its residents will continue showing passports on arrival.
Brexit: Prices
Increase of prices, and especially roaming surcharges was another burning issue for travelers. According to the recent news, the maximum surcharges for phone calls and text messages written while abroad, have been reduced again. It is claimed that they will be canceled completely by June 2017. Moreover, mobile phone companies plan to introduce zero roaming fees within Europe and the competition among companies will restrain price rises.
Skift.com has published an article with comments on the situation at hand from the representatives of major travel industry companies and organizations, such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, Ryanair, Marriott International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and many others. The key conclusion that can be made on the basis of those commentaries is that the companies expect business and leisure travel to hold positions despite the challenges. TripAdvisor representative stated that they will continue to provide their best services to their clients in the global tourism sector and that they are looking forward for cooperation with new partners across the world. TripAdvisor will maintain strong hospitality industry in UK.
Michael W. McCormick, GBTA Executive Director and COO assured that, irrespective of the changes, they will stay committed to their major values and will continue ensuring freedom of movement for business travelers, facilitate safe and secure travel, and most importantly.
As you can see for most travel companies it is still a usual business and people will continue to travel. Is preserving national sovereignty more important than preserving the stability in the country, is Brexit a disaster or a blessing? Probably, it is too soon to tell what impact Brexit can have on tourism industry, if any. Only time will tell which will come true.
* If the UK public were to vote “leave” and the UK Government invoked Article 50, this would commence up to two years of negotiations among the remaining EU Member States to agree the terms
to be offered for a continued trading relationship with the UK.
There could be pressures in terms of the volume of regulatory work required to renegotiate agreements and draft future policies.
* In formulating future regulation, there would also need to be an awareness of wider international laws and any potential negative effects on international trade.
* It is a good time for international visitors Pound has declined as much as 11% on June 24. One of the most proximal effects for American travelers to the U.K. is that U.S. dollars are worth
a lot more in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. The higher the value of the dollar relative to the pound, the more your money is worth in the U.K. The same holds true if you’re
traveling within a European “euro zone” country (one that uses the euro), though the euro isn’t as depressed as is the British pound. Good time for international visitors to go to the UK.
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