To ask of you're stuck at Dover?

[aholidaynotacarpark]

We're travelling tomorrow morning and I'm dreading it! The reports I'm reading mainly mention problems with coaches and we'll be in a car. It sounds seagull for al the school kids stuck there, I really feel for them.
I need to work out how much food and In car entertainment to pack!

A large number of Brits tow their caravans and/or bring their motorhomes to Europe too. Thousands of Kms and then cook their own stuff and drink the cheap wine and beer. Is that tight also?

The point I was making was in response to Emily who seemed to think that the lack of Brits would make the EU tourist industry collapse. That is exceptionalism and pure bollocks.

You are very fortunate to live in the EU. It's a different story in Brexitland.

Middle class people in much of eastern Europe are on track to be better off financially that the British middle class very soon (the poorest 20% already are). I don't think the resorts of Europe will struggle to replace our tourists.

The point I was making was in response to Emily who seemed to think that the lack of Brits would make the EU tourist industry collapse. That is exceptionalism and pure bollocks.

Apparently they need us more than we need them. It's true. Nigel Farage said so. Or was it Aaron Banks ? Hard to remember now. What with all the winning and all.

Blimey, it's been a while since I've heard the "they need us more than we need them" argument deployed.

I believe Switzerland had a referendum several years ago about ending freedom of movement with the rest of Europe, ending FoM won by a narrow majority. The Swiss government said, ok, we'll work out how to deliver this. The government came back and said they weren't going to do it, it would be too damaging to the economy.

At last! Some sense.
It seemed to be the much older voters who voted “ Leave”, especially those who perceived that they were being negatively impacted by “Migration”.
People who were housed by council ( so felt migrants were “ Jumping the queue”)
Middle class homeowners?
I only know one person in this category who voted “Leave”, and that was to do with Fishing quotas.
My Nephew has just landed in France on a school skiing trip.
I doubt if any of the parents voted “ Leave” as most have holiday homes in Europe.

Edit: Nephew and his classmates/ teachers/Driver spent 24 hrs on coach.

If only UK had as much sense as Switzerland.😐

😂
As if the rest of Europe needs 🇬🇧

Hardly.

Thank you Mumsnet for the lack of subtlety in your response to my remarks about the tourist industries of Europe.
Did I suggest they were facing collapse without us?
Did I say they need us more than we need them?
No to both.
We do spend more in France and Spain than they spend here though.

The French are SUPERB!
I wish UK people were like the French .

We allow ourselves to be royally shafted by the government- But the French take ACTION.

Brits whinge and moan- but never take to the streets like the Gilets Jaunes.

I respect the French for their protests.

There have been issues at Dover (and most ports actually) since forever. I remember as a child my family used to holiday in France via ferry and we'd always be stuck in the queue to get the boat for bloody hours. That was in the 90s and early 00s.

I've been travelling to France/Belgium nearly every year since I was a child in the 80s. Yes there have sometimes been delays but I've never seen anything like last year. Travelled from Dover at Easter and Portsmouth in summer. Portsmouth wasn't as bad, although took much longer than in previous years. Dover was horrendous and I e vowed never to travel from there in the school holidays again. Each page of the passport now has to be checked and then a stamp given. It only takes 20-30 seconds longer per passport but multiply that by all the passengers in a vehicle (particularly a coach) and it soon adds up.

There were also delays checking the passports to return from St Malo last year, which I have never had in the previous ten years of travelling that route.

Dover has almost no extra capacity to build more passport control booths due to lack of space. I can only wonder what the delays will be like when biometric ID checks are due to be added.

There’s places other than the U.K. or France.

maybe people should broaden their destinations rather than moaning at the same thing that happened every bloody year.

maybe people should broaden their destinations rather than moaning at the same thing that happened every bloody year.

Let them eat turnip ?

After being in Dover for 20 hours my daughter and her friends and teachers finally got on a ferry. Not sure where they are getting 6to8 hours from

The biggest demographic of people who voted leave were over 50 and not graduates. I'm guessing they're not the people sending their kids on school ski trips.

You have a lot of stereotyping going on there!

Like where, I'm interested in new places. Anywhere is fine as long it is not by ferry via Dover.

Cheap, quick journey. But if people are complaining - there are other departure points with longer more expensive journeys to France. Those departure points do not have French Border Control in situ on British soil, and on arrival, there are not only Brits arriving, so more staff resources are assigned to passport control.

Isolationism is a big cause of this. It is not all about the Brits going to France, but some think it is.

Very mean indeed, must be a caravaner trait.
I agree, the EU will survive without Brits, without question, but they won’t have any profits at the end of the year, as most places operate on tight margins, and Brits, despite the press, spend as much as anyone else when abroad.
Brexit is a sh1tshow, Labour are p1ssing themselves that the Tories are taking the rap when they were equally staunch supporters.

There’ll be no referendum from Labour to rejoin.

https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-ever-recover-french-ski-resorts-are-fighting-for-survival-due-to-changing-covid-travel-restrictions-175179

@Emilypost We are lucky to ski every year but December 2021 was a complete nightmare for so many ski resorts in Europe. We did get out in the end but it was not with out challenges, cancelled flights/eurotunnel, Macron put lots of obstacles in the way of travelling to and through France. The small hotel we use in Italy have been so grateful to the Brits still supporting the industry and spending in resort.

No sympathy here. If anybody can be stupid enough to try and travel on day 1 of the 2 week Easter holidays then you should know what to expect!

What the HELL did they expect? I mean really???? Nobody with an ounce of sense goes anywhere near there during school holidays. Madness! It shouldn't be like that (meaning I think we should have more ports but I know, will never happen!) but it is. It's like voluntarily joining the A1 on a bank holiday - masochistic

Teachers who help on school trips are going to want some downtime afterwards before going back to school, so trips need to be at the start of the holidays.

It's the new additional checks courtesy of Brexit. I hate the way our free movement has gone

"Why doesn't this happen when entering or leaving Switzerland? They're not in the EU either."

I believe the UK requested and agreed checks take place within the French border for people entering and leaving the UK and vice versa for Dover. Otherwise asylum seekers etc would be on UK soil before the papers could be checked....

I think answer to the actual question posed was answered upthread -

Switzerland, whilst not being in the EU, is in the Schengen zone.

The UK is in neither.