Brexit could hit in-bound tourism

WHILE much of the focus of what #Brexit could mean for the #travel industry has focused on out-bound travel, Allan Lambert, managing director of Exeter-based Blue Chip Holidays, has raised concerns about its potential impact on the in-bound travel market.

‘For many holidaymakers, Britain is attractive because it is part of the European Union, which enables them to make the most of a European tour,’ he said. ‘There is a danger that these tourists will be put off if Britain has different travel and trading arrangements with countries such as France, Germany, Holland, and Spain. We have no doubt that tourism will continue to grow if we keep the status quo and holidaymakers know what they are getting when they come to Britain.’

In 2015, inbound travellers accounted for 5% of Blue Chip Holidays customer base. Lambert continued: ‘Jobs in tourism would also be at risk if there were fewer foreign visitors to hot spots such as Devon and Cornwall, Yorkshire, and the Cotswolds and holiday companies that rely on European travellers may see a detrimental impact on their business should Britain vote to leave the EU.

‘UK destinations in close proximity to ferry ports would be particularly effected as they are currently convenient options for holiday makers from France and Spain. However, they would be less appealing after Brexit. Organizations like Visit Britain, that have invested heavily in building ‘Brand Britain’, would likely face an uphill battle in trying to repair the damage that leaving the EU would have on it.’

Based in Exeter, Blue Chip Holidays has a portfolio of properties, from country manors and Grade II listed houses to modern coastal apartments and lodges. It has recently launched a Yorkshire portfolio.

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: I might have missed it, but I don’t recall Scottish tourism businesses warning that holidaymakers would be less inclined to visit an independent Scotland (if any country in the European Union can be said to be independent) … probably for the very simple reason that it wouldn’t have made the slightest difference.

Mr Lambert says there is a danger that tourists will be ‘put off if Britain has different travel and trading arrangements with countries such as France, Germany, Holland, and Spain’. Where’s the evidence for this? How many French, German, Dutch, or Spanish people have been asked if they’d strike an independent Britain off their list of holiday choices? A Britain outside the confines of the EU might even add to its novelty value, along with our funny habit of driving on the wrong side of the road and our old-fashioned £££s. Do French, German, Dutch, or Spanish folks think twice about taking holidays in Switzerland and Norway – not to mention the US – because they’re not in the EU? I doubt it.

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