EU Brexit: Message of Reassurance
30th January 2020
Britain’s national tourism agency VisitBritain is sending a message of welcome and reassurance across Europe. Britain’s national tourism agency VisitBritain is sending a message of reassurance and welcome across Europe as the UK gets set to leave the EU on Friday 31 January 2020. More than two-thirds of the UK’s tourism visits come from Europe and VisitBritain is sending the message that travel for EU visitors to the UK in 2020 does not change. Flights, ferries, coaches and trains will continue to operate as usual and the documents that EU citizens need to travel to the UK for holidays will not change until at least 2021. EU citizens will still be able to travel with ID cards, use European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) and continue to travel to the UK for holidays or short-term trips without needing a visa. Travellers with a biometric passport can use the e-gates for quick and easy entry to the UK. VisitBritain Director for Europe Robin Johnson said: "Europe has been and always will be an incredibly important market for the UK with tourism businesses welcoming about 27 million European visits to our shores every year. "We are reassuring visitors from the EU that travel to the UK will not change in 2020 and they can continue to book with confidence. Visitors can expect a warm welcome and with our breath-taking landscapes, world-famous culture, rich heritage and vibrant cities, it is always a great time to visit Britain. "We have been encouraged by the strong response from our customers in Europe to our campaigns on reassurance and our messages of welcome and remain confident that visitors will continue to choose Britain as a top destination. With our hotels, shops and visitor attractions offering good value this year, it really is a great time to book a trip to Britain." VisitBritain’s research shows that for most potential visitors from Europe, the UK’s departure from the EU does not affect their decision to travel to Britain on holiday and Britain is still seen as a welcoming destination. It has been working with travel and industry partners across Europe for many months on messages of reassurance to make it clear to visitors they can still visit the UK after its departure from the EU whatever the circumstances. The national tourism agency is set to launch a major new campaign in Europe this spring to promote the fantastic experiences that visitors can only have in Britain, telling the stories of the people and places that make modern Britain such an exciting, vibrant and welcoming destination. The campaign will run in France and Germany, two of the UK’s largest tourism source markets as well as Italy, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries and Spain. It follows additional promotion of Britain in Europe throughout last summer and beyond with VisitBritain’s ‘British Summertime’ campaign, on top of its traditional marketing activity, to push last-minute bookings and extend the summer booking period. VisitBritain also continues to work with partners across Europe including airlines and tour operators to support the industry to convert the aspiration to visit the UK into travel bookings. VisitBritain has recently released its inbound tourism forecast for 2020. It has forecast a record year for both the number of visits overall to the UK and for the amount that visitors spend. Spending by overseas visitors in the UK is predicted to reach a record £26.6 billion in 2020, a 6.6% increase on the expected spending in 2019 of £25 billion. 2 The number of overseas visits to the UK is forecast to rise this year to 39.7 million, the highest ever, and up 2.9% on 2019. |