Identify Brexit
Brexit is a frequently used term to indicate United Kingdom’s planned withdrawal of membership from the European Union (E.U.) (Gravey 2016).
When did it happen?
A referendum vote to leave was organized during 2016. After that, the government of UK initiated the withdrawal process on 29th March 2017, putting the UK government on course to leave by the month of April 2019 (Gravey 2016). However, the terms of withdrawal have not yet being discussed. Till that time, UK will remain the member of E. U.
Impact of Brexit on UK tourism
It has been found that U.K. referendum has significant impact on the UK tourism sector. There are three major areas in which Brexit affected UK tourism. They are such as:
Number of visitors
The number of visitor in U.K. during July 2016 (post referendum) was increased by 1% from July 2015 (Hunt and Wheeler 2016).
Domestic tourism
The number of overnight visit in UK increases due to Brexit. (From 124 million in 2015 to 494 million in 2016) (Oliver 2016).
Exchange rate impact
Weaker rate of pound due to Brexit had increased the number of visitors but decreased the profit margin of UK tourism industry by 12% (Hunt and Wheeler 2016).
Impact on to total number of visitors
The total number of visitors of UK in July 2015 (pre-Brexit period) was 3 million. While on it was3.1 million on July 2016 (post-Brexit period). 1% foreign visitors are increased immediately after the referendum. It is due to the fact that UK got more coverage in foreign medina due to Brexit.
Recommendations
1) Develop a new tourism rail offer to make travel easier for foreign visitors
2) Modifying F&B and vehicle licenses can increase profitability of UK government from tourism industry after Brexit.
Conclusion
In conclusion it can be stated that Brexit has both positive and negative impact on tourism industry. It has increased number of visitors and domestic tourism due to increased media coverage on UK after Brexit. On the other hand weaker exchange rate of Pound had decreased the profit margin of UK tourism industry.
References
Gravey, V., 2016. Reforming EU Policy. This review should be cited as: The EU Referendum and the UK Environment: An Expert Review. How has EU membership affected the UK and what might change in the event of a vote to Remain or Leave? E-copies of this review and a short executive summary can be downloaded from, p.125.
Hunt, A. and Wheeler, B., 2016. Brexit: All you need to know about the UK leaving the EU. BBC News.
Oliver, T., 2016. European and international views of Brexit. Journal of European Public Policy, 23(9), pp.1321-1328
