Impacts Of Brexit On Tourism And Hospitality Sectors

Economic Impacts of Brexit on Tourism and Hospitality Sectors

For the first time, there is a crucial prospect of a very important member state leaving the European Union. United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, referred to as British exit (Brexit), is an issue of major concern. UK’s break with the EU and the uncertainty that comes with it may be bad for business, and it may bring detrimental effects to various economic sectors of the United Kingdom and the European Union at large (Irwin, 2015). On the other hand, some business may take advantage of the situation to grow and expand. However, if the United Kingdom completely leaves the European Union, economic effects would largely depend on the new liaison between the EU and the

As a matter of fact, the UK is ranked second among the highest source market for hoteliers in the entire Europe. According to Irwin, UK citizens spent over 215 million in accommodations such as overnight stay in hotels in the entire EU in the year 2014 (2015). On the other hand, more than 67% of UK tourists come from European states (Morris, 2016). Thus, the tourism sector will be one of the most affected sectors of the countries’ economies. Since a large percentage of tourists touring Europe come from the United Kingdom, many hotel markets within the European continent heavily rely on British arrivals. This shows that British exit will have major impacts on the tourism industry, not only in Britain but also all over

Some countries would suffer more than others because of the probable backward surge by British customers (Fountain, 2016). The effects will largely depend on country’s coverage to the UK market in that the more visits from UK clientele every European country had, the higher probability that the hotels will receive a negative impact. For instance, Spain is likely to suffer more than Greece because it had more UK clientele than the latter.

On the other hand, British exit will lead to an increase in the customs and taxes for goods and services entering or leaving the United Kingdom (Irwin, 2015). These would act as added costs that will have adverse effects on certain industries; with tourism, travel, and transportation industry the most affected (Irwin, 2015; Eisen, 2016). Entry for European visitors will be more complicated, and this will discourage many visitors from European states. These constraints will also affect travel and major transport hubs such as