How will Brexit effect your travel next year ?

The UK will leave the EU on Friday 29 March 2019 and there will be many, many changes to get used to, but how will travel and holidaying abroad work ?

A transition period has been agreed, in principle, between the EU and UK, until 31 December 2020.

There is a lot of uncertainty amongst members of the public and some who think things will carry on as normal, but it is clear more clarity is needed on the impact of Brexit.

Alan Wardle from ABTA says: “Travel is one of those industries that has quite a big impact if Brexit doesn’t go well. Our flights, our visa free travel, travel insurance, health insurance across Europe. We are confident that our politicians say that they are going to get a good deal and we are holding them to that. The volume of passengers that are flying, it matters to the UK but it also matters to countries like Spain and Portugal aswell. So it is important that politicians on both sides come to a pragmatic deal to make sure that summer of 2020 is as busy as it is this year”.

Brexit: 8 Months to go ! Here are some of the figures involved:

• UK residents take more than 20 million trips abroad each year, with over 53 million to destinations in the EU27.
• 75% of UK trips abroad were to EU countries

The top 10 UK destinations are:

1. Spain
2. France
3. Italy
4. Ireland
5. Portugal
6. The Netherlands
7. Germany
8. Greece
9. Poland
10. Belgium

UK travel generates €37 Billion to EU economies and 800,000 Eu jobs are supported by UK tourism.

UK outbound traveller’s worth to the UK economy is £11.7 Billion, and £39.2 Million was generated by overseas visitors to the UK in 2017. £24.5 Billion is spent on UK visits by visitors from overseas.

Travel companies want certainty also, a lot is at risk if negotiations do not go well. It is easy to see from the figures involved, that UK travellers are a vital part of the EU travel industry and it is in the best interests of both the UK and EU to get Brexit right.

People hope and believe things will be able to carry on much as they are today, but in reality even with a few months to go before Brexit happens in March of next year, no one really knows.