Brexit has dealt a heavy blow to tourism in the UK. New regulations for travel to the UK are now coming into force, mainly affecting EU citizens. What do we need to know?
From 2 April, the so-called Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will be mandatory for EU citizens. The registration system applies to travellers who do not need a visa.
The plan envisages registration being carried out via an app or the internet, which critics say could be a problem, especially for less tech-savvy travellers. The initial price was ten pounds, but an increase to 16 pounds has already been announced.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) criticized the decision: "It makes no sense to deter visitors with high costs before they even set foot in the country," an official statement said.
In turn, the British will also face additional difficulties. The reason is that the EU is introducing not only a system for authorizing travel from countries that do not require a visa, which will cost 7 euros and should come into force in 2026, but also an online registration system, which is expected to affect all travelers from non-EU countries from the fall of 2025.
Consequence of Brexit
Because of Brexit, John Francis decided to give up his British passport and apply for German citizenship. Thus, the Briton secures the privileges of citizens of the European Union. Francis offers holiday homes in England, Scotland and Wales, but from his home in the small German town of Obertshausen.
Brexit is not just affecting his personal life. The broker says that his clients often feel uncertain. "Will the entry rules change in the future? Will they introduce a visa regime? Do we need an international passport?” - all questions that have also affected Francis' business.
The consequences of Brexit for tourism cannot be clearly calculated because the UK's official exit from the EU coincided with the pandemic, which led to a global collapse of the tourism industry. The UK tourism association Visit Britain also commented that it is not possible to make an accurate calculation of the effect of Brexit on the industry.
For EU citizens, entering the UK becomes more complicated
However, the statistics on holidaymakers also show that while countries such as Italy, Spain and France have already set new tourism records in 2023 after the end of the pandemic, with 38 million visitors the UK is still unable to return to the levels of 2019, when the Island was visited by 40.9 million people. Moreover, the number of travelers from the USA, Canada and Australia in 2023 exceeded that of 2019, but this does not apply to holidaymakers from neighboring European countries. And this is not surprising, since it is for their citizens that Brexit has brought additional obstacles.
A good example of this is school trips. Tour operators are still suffering massively from the effects of Brexit. The British business association Tourism Alliance has complained that the new rules have led to a sharp drop in visits. The annual losses to the economy amount to several hundred million pounds. From 2021, EU citizens will also have to present a passport when travelling to the UK. An ID card is no longer enough.
Shortage of staff in the tourism industry
Christoph Knobloch, director of the German company CTS Reisen, which specialises in group and educational trips, knows what this means. The additional cost of a passport is a deterrent, especially for younger students. In addition, students who are not EU citizens now also need a visa - unlike before. The cost of one reaches 300 euros, and this does not guarantee entry to the island. "Organisation is already a huge effort and many teachers are not willing to take that risk", says Knobloch.
The consequences of leaving the EU for the British tourism industry are most obvious in the shortage of workers. With EU citizens now needing a work visa to work in the UK, tens of thousands of workers have left the country. According to the Scottish government, almost one in two tourism businesses in some areas have reduced their staff.
Broker John Francis has also noticed this. "It is difficult for many tourism businesses to continue their business as usual", he says.