How will Brexit affect British tourism?

On June 23, 2016, a slim majority of British voters decided that Britain should leave the European Union. And so it happened three and a half years later, on January 31, 2020, “Brexit” was completed. The consequences are immense and affect many areas such as immigration, trade and tourism. Long-term cuts will probably only become apparent in the coming years.

Since Brexit, entry into Great Britain has become more complicated for EU citizens – even for those who just want to go on vacation. While previously anyone with an EU identity card could enter the country, since October 1st, 2021 this has only been possible with a passport. But not everyone has it – according to estimates, only two out of three EU citizens.

Visitor numbers declining

A report from VisitBritain last November shows that total visitor numbers in 2022 were about a third below levels in 2019 – the year before the pandemic that paralyzed much of the world’s travel and tourism activity. A significant drop. Now, in fairness, Brexit and COVID worked simultaneously and it is difficult to reconstruct in retrospect which event caused the major disruptions. One thing is certain: the pandemic is over, but Brexit is not. In detail, VisitBritain figures show that 8 million people visited the UK between April and June 2022. Among them were almost 5 million EU citizens. Those are orders of magnitude not too far off from those for the same period in 2019. This fuels hope that post-Brexit travel rules will be accepted by EU citizens.

Rising costs could deter tourists

Brexit is having a negative impact elsewhere. Some European tour operators specializing in trips to the UK report that they are struggling with rising costs in the UK hospitality industry.

A German entrepreneur, who wishes to remain anonymous so as not to damage his business, tells DW that the rising cost of British hotel rooms and other hospitality services since Brexit has forced him to raise prices. He has been organizing tailor-made trips to Scotland for wealthy German, Austrian and Swiss travelers since the mid-1990s. A ten-day trip for two would have cost between 6,000 and 8,000 euros four or five years ago, he says, but today he has to ask for double that. “They’re identical tours, but we don’t earn a single cent more,” he laments, adding: “British hotels have doubled, even tripled, and everything has become more expensive.”

Researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science have found that that Brexit has led to more bureaucratic hurdles when doing business with other European countries. That, in turn, is fueling Britain’s skyrocketing inflation, which is also driving up the cost of hospitality and tourism services – although of course other factors such as rising energy costs are also at play. In late 2022, UK inflation hit a 40-year high.

Brexit is exacerbating staff shortages in hotels, bars and restaurants

The British hospitality industry has historically relied heavily on low-wage workers from EU countries. But those days seem to be long gone. Figures from the Oxford University Migration Observatory show that between June 2019 and June 2021 the number of EU workers in the UK hospitality sector fell by 25%.

These problems have been exacerbated by Brexit. Pandemic-related closures caused many waiters, kitchen staff and hotel workers to look for jobs in other sectors or even forced them to return to their EU home countries. Firms that used to employ Italian, Spanish and Greek workers now find it difficult to access the EU labor market. The new post-Brexit immigration rules make it significantly more difficult for low-skilled EU citizens to access the UK labor market.

Media reports about staff shortages in the hospitality industry can be read everywhere. According to a recent New York Times article, many London restaurants are being forced to reduce their opening hours due to staffing shortages. There would be 11% vacancies in this industry.

What is the British tourism industry saying about this?

Joss Croft, head of UKinbound, the British tourism association, says he is confident the UK will remain a popular tourist destination. But he would welcome an Australian-style work and travel agreement between the UK and EU countries that would allow people under 30 with his Working Holiday Visa to work while on leave. This could provide a new source of labor for the struggling hospitality industry, while also providing an opportunity for cultural exchange. “We know that people who enjoy coming here when they are young continue to do so later and are more willing to invest and do business in the UK.”

Overall, Croft is optimistic about the future of Britain as a tourist destination and thinks that the coronation of King Charles III. on May 6th and the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool on May 13th “will make people more aware of Great Britain and thus interest in the country will also increase”.