International tourists reach nearly half a billion in 2016

DESPITE many challenges facing Europe in 2016, tourism has once again shown extraordinary strength and resilience, reinforcing its contribution to economic growth, job creation and social well-being in the European Union (EU-28).

The 28 countries of the EU boasted a solid growth in international tourist arrivals of above 4% in 2016, exceeding the world’s average growth rate, and increasing by 21 million to 499 million.

2016 was the 7th consecutive year of sustained growth for the EU-28 following the 2009 global economic and financial crisis, with 107 million more tourists than the pre-crisis level of 2008.

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UKinbound urges government on Brexit negotiations

UK TRADE BODY UKinbound has welcomed the new prime minister, Theresa May, in a letter which included four key ‘asks’ for her to consider in the country’s exit negotiations with the European Union.

They are:

1. A strong narrative promoting the UK as a welcoming destination. At a time of great uncertainty for the UK economy, UKinbound has emphasized the importance of demonstrating that Britain remains an outward-facing nation open for business and which will continue to welcome visitors from around the world. 
2. Continued, tariff-free access to the Single Market to ensure the free movement of goods, finance, and people around the EU. 
3. Continued access to the EU’s Open Skies Agreement. 
4. An assurance regarding residency for its members’ employees. UKinbound’s latest Business Barometer survey revealed that more than 30% of its members’ workforce are EU migrants. 

UKinbound CEO Deirdre Wells OBE said: ‘Although the negotiating blueprint is far from clear for the pending Brexit, we hope that these four key ‘asks’ to the government will support and ensure the maximum growth for our industry.

‘These are issues our members feel are important in maintaining a relationship with the EU. We are a resilient industry and I am confident that our vibrant industry can overcome these challenges we face.’

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Keep calm, and carry on travelling

What are the long-term implications of Britain’s Brexit vote for tourism and travel? Go Holiday editor David Kernek peers through the euro-mist

BRITAIN’S ‘No’ vote to European Union (EU) membership was arguably as seismic for this country (which for the time being comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) as the 16th century Protestant reformation in Europe, the establishment of the English republic in 1649, and – a century later – the loss of the American colonies. So it’s not surprising that the campaign run by a political class for which the Brussels Empire has been a gravy train for more than four decades – and for the hard-core Europhiles an article of faith – was a toxic cocktail of dodgy economic forecasts, threats, and groundless assumptions: the Chancellor of the Exchequer said he’d table punishment Budget if the country dared to vote the ‘wrong’ way, while his fellow Remainers told youngsters – people who have never known life outside the EU – that they’d not easily be able to spend their gap years in Paris, Florence, and Berlin … Belgium and Luxembourg seeming to have little appeal to our cosmopolitan teenagers.

I welcomed the referendum and applauded the result, yet I recognize that what happens next will be painful; the slumping £, however, means a short-term gain for Britain’s tourism sector … enquiries and holiday bookings from the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and EU states have increased sharply since June 24. We are, nevertheless, looking at the possible break-up of the union of England and Scotland (albeit with the Queen as head of an independent Scottish state) and two, possibly three, years in which skilled and determined negotiators will have to get the best possible exit terms while British legislators trudge through the law books to which of the thousands of EU directives and regulations can be binned and which kept and perhaps modified. Much of this work will have implications for travel and tourism, for Britain and the 27-member EU.

It’s far, far too soon to predict the likely outcome for holidaymakers and business travellers, but there are some assumptions that can be made fairly safely, putting aside the menacing growls from Brussels, Paris, and Berlin from Eurocrats who are explicably angered by the impending loss of their empire’s second-largest contributor:

Airlines: EU-US Open Skies agreement liberalizing international aviation is a development of the Netherlands-US deal signed in 1992, when it was at first opposed by the EU Commission. Preventing Britain signing up to it would not be in the trade interests of our continental neighbours, since their tourism industries – essential economic engines in southern Europe – would suffer. Freddie Laker pioneered the cheap flights boom in 1966, seven years before Britain joined the then European Economic Community (EEC), so it’s likely to survive Brexit.

Air Passengers Rights: Giving compensation rights to passengers when flights are delayed or cancelled, these derive from an EU regulation applicable currently in Britain. After exit from the EU, parliament can carry it over into UK law – unchanged or amended – or ditch it.

Visas: These weren’t necessary for travel by British citizens to the countries of what was then the EEC – and vice versa – before 1973. It’s reasonable to assume they won’t be post-Brexit. It’s similarly realistic to forecast that the open-borders Common Travel Area agreement – which dates back to 1922/3 – between Britain, the Irish Republic, and Northern Ireland will endure.

Passports: UK passports will in time be re-designed, with references to the European Union deleted. Whether or not we’ll see a comeback for the old blue ones remains to be seen.

Aliens: It’s been suggested – by Remain campaigners – that EU citizens resident in the UK and Brits in EU states could be told go back, as it were, where they came from, thus making expats pawns in Britain’s exit negotiations. Lawyers differ (as they often do) as whether the 1969 Treaty of Vienna protects the so-called acquired or vested rights of residence, but even the europhile think tank British Influence thinks that it does: ‘International law should be sufficient to protect acquired rights. For example, under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, while parties to a treaty can be released from future obligations by withdrawing from the agreement, rights, and obligations acquired under the same treaty are not affected.’

Mobile phone roaming charges: Under EU law, holidaymakers and business travellers will be able to call, text and surf at UK rates in all EU states from mid-2017. It will be up to the UK parliament to either continue the ban on roaming charges … or not.

Duty frees: Duty-free shopping was abolished by the EU, but it could be restored after Brexit.

European Health Insurance Card (EHIC): This entitles UK travellers to the same, free healthcare available in other EU countries. Keeping it will be an agenda item for the Brexit negotiations, and would depend on enabling EU citizens equivalent access to Britain’s national health service.

But little if anything will change for at least two years, so keep calm and carry on travelling.

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Brexit: More from the Ministry of Fear

AND still it comes from the Department of Fear, also known as the Remain campaign in Britain’s EU referendum. A so-called study by Travelzoo and Bournemouth University has found that:

A British exit from the European Union could cost the UK’s tourism industry up to £4.1 billion a year in international tourist spending

Many people in Europe would be “less likely” to visit Britain if it was outside the EU

Sentiment among the four largest EU nations – France, Germany, Italy, and Spain – is that the UK should stay in the EU, with just under 70% in the Remain camp

Firstly, note the word could.

Secondly, that people in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain want the UK to stay in the EU is in no way surprising: Britain is the second-largest net contributor to the EU’s vast budget. Since when have turkeys welcomed an early Christmas?

Thirdly, the survey also found that respondents from some nations – notably France – believe that leaving the EU could make Britain a safer destination for holidays … in which case, why would our neighbours across the Channel be “less likely” to visit Britain?

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Should we stay … or should we go?

Go Holiday editor David Kernek looks at the case for the UK staying in the EU, and finds it … underwhelming

WITH a Keep Britain in the European Union coalition that includes the President of the United States, the leading bigshots in the 28 member states of the EU, almost all of Britain’s mainstream political parties (Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, and Scottish and Welsh nationalists), a couple of ex-heads of MI5 and MI6, a former boss of Marks & Spencer, major players in the travel and tourism industries and not forgetting former prime minister Gordon Brown and Sir Richard Branson – no scrub that, let’s forget them – should those of us who had been intending to vote for a UK exit from the EU conclude that we are insane, exceedingly dense, or just in need of a cup of tea and a few hours of rest in a dark room, after which we’d realize that all of these eminent people really do know best?

There isn’t time or space enough here to highlight all of the deceptions, exaggerations, and absurd assumptions – and all of the examples of confused thinking – that characterize the Remain discourse, but I’ll have a go.

Never mind that the UK’s prime minister in his negotiation with the EU asked for a few slices of bread and came back with a handful of crumbs, or that in no meaningful sense do the new membership terms he finds acceptable leave us with a ‘reformed’ union.

No matter that British politicians have since 1973 deceived voters – and perhaps themselves – about the fundamental purpose of the Brussels project, which was and remains the creation of a continental superstate, the downsides of which have been inflicted so far chiefly on Greece (where the results of general elections now count for nothing), Italy (where an unelected cabinet was installed to head off a euro debt crisis), Spain, and Portugal.

Let’s not look at the way in which defence and security issues have been hauled in, as if the EU plays any useful part in the military and intelligence alliances that protect these islands … as if the open borders in the useless Schengen Zone have prevented terrorist murders in the capitals of Western Europe … as if a third continent-wide war might or could or possibly be the consequence of leaving what we were told was simply a free trade block, albeit one in which the laws of nation states are secondary to legislation approved by the EU’s Commission and so-called parliament – that’s the parliament that sits at enormous financial cost in both Brussels and Strasbourg. There are, believe it or not, defence experts in both the US and Britain who say a UK exit would have no adverse impact on the Anglo-American alliance.

Don’t give a second thought to the fact that many of the great and the good who are warning of the direst consequences of a British exit were the same great and the good who led the cheerleading for a UK entry into the financial and political swamp that is EU’s single currency zone … or that many of them have in one way or another had – or still have – a first class seat on the Brussels gravy train. When a university or research outfit sings the praises of the EU, ask how much folding money it gets from Brussels, and how much of it came in the first place from UK taxpayers.

Never mind that for every so-called expert who warns of chaos and failure for a Britain outside the EU, I could call in aid an economist, investment specialist, or defence expert to put the counter argument. Here are FIVE of them:

‘1.History amply demonstrates to us that when you impose artificial borders and artificial unity on a group of human beings, it tends to blow up nastily, and usually in your face.’ That was John Stepek, Editor, MoneyWeek

2.‘Contrary to the claims of many authors and commentators, it is probable that the impacts of Brexit on trade would be relatively small. Moreover, it is certainly possible that leaving the European Union would leave the external sector better off in the long run, if Britain could use its new found freedom to negotiate its own trading arrangements to good effect. It is plausible that Brexit could have a modest negative impact on growth and job creation. However it is slightly more plausible that the net impact would be modestly positive. There are potential net benefits in the areas of a more tailored immigration policy, the freedom to make trade deals, moderately lower levels of regulation, and savings to the public purse.’ That was Capital Economics.

3.‘The truth about Brexit from a national security perspective is that the cost to Britain would be low. Brexit would bring two potentially important security gains: the ability to dump the European Convention on Human Rights — remember the difficulty of extraditing the extremist Abu Hamza of the Finsbury Park Mosque – and, more importantly, greater control over immigration from the European Union. Britain is Europe’s leader in intelligence and security matters and gives much more than it gets in return. It is difficult to imagine any of the other EU members ending the relationships they already enjoy with the UK. Richard Dearlove, chief of MI6, 1999 -2004.

4.‘I don't mean to be arguing against the European Union, but with regards to these kinds of questions, the union is not a natural contributor to the national security of each of the entity states. In some ways it gets in the way of the state's providing security for its own citizens.’ General Michael Hayden, former head of the CIA.

5. ‘I am not saying for one moment that Britain couldn’t survive outside the European Union. Of course we could. We are a great country. The fifth largest economy in the world. The fastest growing economy in the G7 last year. The biggest destination for Foreign Direct Investment in the EU. Our capital city a global icon. The world, literally, speaks our language. No one doubts that Britain is a proud, successful thriving country. A nation that has turned round its fortunes though its own efforts. A far cry from the ‘sick man of Europe’ at the time we entered the European Economic Community four decades ago. Whether we could be successful outside the European Union is not the question.’ That, in November 2015, was none other Prime Minister David Cameron, attempting to argue not that Britain would be unsuccessful outside the EU but that it would be even more successful if it stayed in. He declined to offer a guess as to how much more successful – the Treasury has since cobbled up a calculation of how much worse off the average household would be in 2030 outside the Brussels Empire – and has since moved on to prophesying WW3. In doing so, he doesn’t seem to have noticed that the political, economic, and social fissures created by the drive to a United States of Europe has nourished the growth in France, Germany, Austria, Greece and elsewhere of parties at the very unpleasant end of the Right-wing spectrum. He’s now saying the economic consequences would be ‘terrible’; what does he know now that he didn’t in November last year?

Travel, tourism, and holiday companies, and their lobbying organizations, have been vocal in their opposition to the restoration of the UK as an independent, self-governing state. Richard Branson, the Association of British Travel Agents, easyJet, Ryanair have joined in the scaremongering, warning of the end of cheap travel and holidays, visa barriers, and a risk to jobs in the tourism industry. There has been talk of this island being isolated, cut off, and of ‘economic suicide’.

Some people of nervous disposition have been frightened by this tosh. Interviewed on BBC Radio 4 recently, an undergraduate with a nervous disposition said she wouldn’t be able to have inter-rail holidays in Europe. How on earth did she get into a university? My first trip to France was in the late 1960s which, history graduates might know, was when Britain was not a member of the then European Economic Community. I bought my ferry ticket, showed my passport … and I was in. Cheap package holidays in the Spanish Costas began some years before Britain made the mistake of joining the EEC. Visas weren’t needed then: why would they be required if the British vote for independence?

Are the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the rest likely to put up British Tourists Not Welcome signs? I suspect that’s as improbable as a German chancellor wanting to start a tariff war that would make it much more difficult for the Bayerische Motoren Werke Company to sell its excellent cars in Britain. Now, all that really would be economic suicide. What’s the German – or French – for cutting off your nose to spite your face?

There’s no doubting the economic importance of in-bound tourism to all of the four nations of the UK. The UK tourism industry – accounting for 9.6% of total employment – keeps more than three million in work. What can be doubted are the assertions that a Britain outside the EU would have an adverse on the industry; that, simply, fewer people would want to visit, that airlines would take the country off their destination lists.

There’s no reason to believe that the current passport arrangements with our neighbours in Western Europe would change. The island’s tourism assets – history, heritage, landscapes, Shakespeare, Stonehenge and the rest – would continue to be a major draw, along with, for many, our funny habit of driving on the wrong side of the road and the country’s reluctance to ditch a currency, the roots of which can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon England. The pound sterling is the world's oldest currency still in use. The importance of tourism from EU states can also be exaggerated. VisitBritain reports that the top three markets which have recently shown the highest absolute growth in value (on average during the last five years) are all long haul to the UK: the US, China, and Australia. On what basis can it be feared that a Britain outside the European Union would be of diminishing interest to people in these markets? There isn’t one.

Many of the so-called arguments in favour of Britain’s participation in the dystopian Brussels project are not greatly unlike those heard more than half a century ago, when the original six-nation European Economic Community was created and when in the 1960s, one of the most useful contributions was made by General Charles de Gaulle who as France’s president twice vetoed UK applications to join.

‘Compared with the motives that led the Six to organize their unit,’ he explained, ‘we understand why Britain – who is not continental, who remains, because of the Commonwealth and because she is an island, committed far beyond the seas, who is tied to the United States by all kinds of special agreements – did not merge into a Community with set dimensions and strict rules. In short, the nature, the structure, the very situation that are England’s differ profoundly from those of the continentals.

‘England is maritime, she is linked through her exchanges, her markets, her supply lines to the most diverse and often the most distant countries; she pursues essentially industrial and commercial activities, and only slight agricultural ones. She has in all her doings very marked and very original habits and traditions. The question is whether Great Britain can now place herself like the Continent and with it inside a tariff which is genuinely common, to renounce all Commonwealth preferences, to cease any pretence that her agriculture be privileged, and, more than that, to treat her engagements with other countries of the free trade area as null and void — that question is the whole question.’

The general – whatever else he got wrong – knew it would never work. This referendum – something reckoned unthinkable for Britain’s political class a decade ago – is proof that he was right.
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£27.7 million plan to create ‘iconic’ Welsh destinations

A EUROPEAN UNION funding package for tourism in Wales has been unveiled with a potential total value of £85 million – the single biggest EU investment made in the sector.

Backed by £27.7 million from the European Regional Development Fund, the scheme aims to create 10 ‘must visit’ holiday destinations in Wales. It is hoped the scheme will play a part in increasing the tourism sector in Wales by 10% by 2020.

‘This announcement brings us one step closer to creating some iconic destinations for Wales,’ says Wales’ minister for economy, science and transport, Edwina Hart. ‘Our tourism strategy for Wales looks at the need to develop more reputation-changing products for Wales. By focusing efforts and investment on key projects in each region, we can have a real impact on Wales’ profile in this globally competitive market.’

She said the aim is for these destinations is to give ‘compelling reasons for people to visit Wales or stay in Wales for a holiday’.

‘Tourism is one of our key sectors and generates £8.7 billion for the Welsh economy and employs 15% of the workforce. The industry is in very good shape; we’ve seen successive annual increases in visitor volumes and expenditure, both in the British and international markets.’

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: This is welcome news for the Welsh tourist industry, but before we send our thanks to the EU for its generosity, it should not be forgotten that this just money coming back to Britain, which contributes £350 million a week to the EU’s accounts.

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Stick with the EU, say Britain’s travel agents

THE ‘Stay’ side in the UK’s referendum on European Union membership has been backed by the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), which has published a report on what it says are the potential impacts on country’s travel industry of withdrawal from the EU.

With economic analysis from Deloitte, ‘What #Brexit might mean for UK #Travel‘ assesses how the existing relationship between the UK and the EU has affected British travellers and the travel industry, and looks at what the likely impact would be of a ‘Leave’ vote on consumer confidence, expectation and behaviour, as well as on the industry.

More than 29 million foreign holidays each year – 76% of the total – are made by UK holidaymakers to EU countries. Sixty-eight percent (4.6 million) of all business trips from Britain are to EU states.

There are currently, says ABTA, many EU regulations designed to benefit holidaymakers and business travellers. Although these regulations would not change immediately, a UK exit could have a “significant impact” in the future. Current regulations include: 

• Financial protection for package holidays 
• Compensation for flight delays 
• Access to free health cover through the European Health Insurance Card
• Caps on mobile phone charges 
• ‘Open skies’ across the EU, resulting in more routes, more airlines, and lower fares 

Of immediate concern is the impact that a period of prolonged uncertainty will have on the strength of sterling versus other currencies. A weaker pound has a direct impact on spending power overseas, making the cost of holidaying or visiting abroad more expensive, as well as adding costs for UK businesses to buy abroad.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA CEO, says: ‘Our assessment of the report’s findings is that a vote to leave will lead to uncertainties and may lead to increased costs for travel businesses and the travelling public. We recognize that people will approach this referendum by considering many factors – personal, professional, and economic – before casting their vote. ABTA has considered what a vote to leave the EU might mean purely from a travel perspective. Our view is that the potential risks and downsides are not matched by an equal upside for the traveller.’

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: That’s ABTA’s view, and it’s hardly surprising. The key words in ABTA’s plea for the status quo are could and might and potential. Neither they nor the Get Out folks can be sure of what will follow a UK vote to leave the club that, to quote London’s mayor, nobody in their right mind - except, perhaps the Turkish government – would want to join now. The one thing that is reasonably certain, however, is that our European neighbours – from Belgium and France across to Italy and Greece – will want to do nothing that would prevent British holidaymakers contributing to the growth of their tourist industries.

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UKinbound throws support behind bid to stay in the EU

LEADING trade organization UKinbound has revealed that 82% of its members believe that staying in the European Union is important to their business.

The announcement made at UKinbound’s annual convention follows the prime minister’s recent request to the business community to share its views on EU membership.

Mark McVay, chairman at UKinbound, said: ‘Our member survey findings highlight overwhelming support for Britain to remain in the EU. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as the EU is an extremely important source market for tourism. It is important to our country’s economy that we make it as easy as possible for people to travel here, not isolate ourselves from the market which collectively brought two-thirds of our visitors in 2015.’

Hailed as one of the leading contributors to the economy, overseas visitor spending in the UK contributed £22 billion last year with each inbound visitor subsidizing an additional £630 in export earnings and giving £216 to the Treasury – statistics which

UKinbound’s CEO, Deirdre Wells added: ‘We are fortunate to have a major market – the EU – right here on our doorstep. Our members have been welcoming visitors from our European neighbours for decades. They bring much needed revenue to the UK, creating valuable jobs for the UK economy. We need to continue to do all we can to attract more visitors to the UK – and saying “yes” to staying in the EU sends a clear message that we are open for business.’

Go Holiday editor David Kernek comments: Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they … but there is no evidence to justify fears that a Britain outside the European Union would be less attractive to, or accessible for, tourists from EU states. The tourist industry in Switzerland –a small country with far fewer attractions than the UK for visitors – thrives, despite the very sensible decision of the Swiss to maintain their independence and control of their own borders.
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Up in the air . . .

A VOTE by the UK in the upcoming referendum to leave the European Union (EU) could have a ‘material adverse effect’ on easyJet, the budget airline has warned. With Britain in the EU, UK airlines have access to free movement treaties. 

However, easyJet said that if Britain were to leave, ‘there is a precedent for other countries outside the EU, such as Norway, being able to take advantage of these free movement agreements’.

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