Anyone else really worried now?

[MrsBlackthorn]

My work has started quietly drawing up contingency plans for if Brexit happens. Same at DH's work. Could mean lots of jobs moving to Germany and Ireland at both our firms. We're already seeing far fewer people investing or spending money.

I'm bloody terrified. Could lose my job. House could end up in negative equity. And for what?

I don't even think it's "project fear" from the government anymore... News today showed investors are taking money out of the UK faster than anytime since the crash. People with "skin in the game" voting with their money.

I understand that for lots of people the EU referendum isn't about money. however, because of a lot of it leaving, stopping coming in, or just simply being worth less... Well that leaves us screwed for a very long time. Fewer jobs. Less tax money coming in - so less money for the NHS and so on. So even if we 'take back control', of what exactly. what will we be 'in control' of?

I'm really worried about "Leave" happening and me and my family being utterly f*ed in a few months time as a result. Has the country lost its mind?

Anyone else worried about where this leaves us?

The majority of visitors to the UK are from Europe. Making it harder for them to come here will mean fewer of them come. That will impact hotels, tour operators, etc.

Americans will still come, yes, but leaving the EU won't make us physically closer to any of the places you suggest, nor make it simple or cheap for Japanese people to pop on a plane from Narita for a long weekend in Cambridge. Leaving the EU won't make more of them come, because it is still hard and expensive to get here.

Statistics from the first half of 2014:

Those visiting the country so far this year included 11.38 million from EU countries, 1.1 million from the rest of Europe, 1.57 million from North America and 2.28 million from the rest of the world.

So you think no successful businessman/woman is going to vote leave Karlos?? Really??? How blinkered

Exactly.

I know of quite a few that are.

To call people idiots or ignorant is rude, untrue and quite frankly disingenuous.

How about you respect others decisions rather than mud slinging and name calling towards others that you know absolutely nothing about

My next door neighbour came over to visit from Poland in 2009.

"I am a serious and successful business person but I have voted Leave."

Half of that statement isn't true.

How about you stop calling people liars?

I suspect we are in recession already and have been for a while. It's just more convenient to make it fact after the referendum.

As far as I am aware some very intelligent people are pro remain and some very intelligent people are pro leave.

I've yet to see a single industry or market where all are in one favour.

Mostly at this stage your concerns for yourself are swayed by what you think the poorer out come for yourself is going to be.

The fact the employees have word of their company's contingency plans being drawn up so close to voting simply activates my cynicism.same as companies sending letters pointing out they can't influence decisions but xyz might happen if abc happened as a result of a Leave vote. Creating a climate of fear in employees over policies that would probably never come to fruition.

The OP made that argument unexpsoc or does People from abroad will find it harder to holiday here not mean that people from abroad will find it harder to holiday here, to you? I think the change will make no difference to Americans etc. How will it?

You're deliberately misreading what I said. I did not say ALL people from abroad will find it hard to visit. But it's illogical that making it more difficult for the people who make up the bulk of tourists in the UK to come here will be in any way good for the UK tourism industry.

My next door neighbour came over to visit from Poland in 2009

And I first came on a visit in 2004 from a non-EU country. Came back in 2005, still here. Your point?

If it helps, the ONS also publishes data on purpose of visit. I'll dig it out later for those with no google

It won't affect many of our tourists at all. The other tourists will, what, have to show a visa with their passport? I am really not seeing that the majority of holiday makers will decide not to come because we are no longer in the EU.

Applying for a visa to visit somewhere takes time. It costs money. It adds hassle.

Experience in almost every country - including the UK, and for UK tourists overseas - that if you need a visa people are simply less likely to go, preferring to go somewhere which doesn't need a visa,

That's why governments have been falling over themselves to get visa free travel for Chinese tourists - because having to apply for one makes people less likely to come.

When I want to go to China I have to send my passport off and pay money. I worry about my passport getting lost. The time it's off getting processed is time I can't travel elsewhere. It's a hassle and many people will choose to go to countries which don't demand such. Because there are plenty of those.

If you think demanding visas from people who want to come to London for a holiday isn't going to put off tourists, you're living in cloud cuckoo land.

Good post with interesting insights HoneyDragon.

I just don't see it as the big issue you are saying it is.

Top 10 countries with holiday stated as purpose of visit (excluding visits to friends and relatives, business and study visits) (2014)[2]

Country Number
France 1,980,000
Germany 1,460,000
United States 1,280,000
Italy 889,577
Netherlands 734,480
Spain 728,117
Republic of Ireland 589,000
Belgium 565,207
Australia 478,616
Sweden 437,340

Big corporates lobby governments Jassy, they don't campaign against them. It's a subtle but important distinction.

My SIL is married to a British Passport holder but still has to apply for a visa every time she visits.

Shrug

It's no great shakes.

The USA visa system is online.

Experience in almost every country - including the UK, and for UK tourists overseas - that if you need a visa people are simply less likely to go, preferring to go somewhere which doesn't need a visa,

MrsB, there is a certain type of Brexiteers who will always dismiss actual evidence, experiences from analogous situations elsewhere or anything else that doesn't fit their narrative as irrelevant because Britain is inherently different/superior/more special.

The fact is that tourism is around 10% of GDP employing many people on below average income, most of our tourists come from within the EU, evidence shows that the need for visas (or even uncertainty over same) can be a barrier to travel (as can plain old sentiment, post-Brexit many Europeans may not see Britain as a place particularly welcoming to them).

Slightly too important to be left to gut feeling of whether it's 'that important' or blithe reassurances that lost Eurprqn tourists will be replaced by Koreans.

Sorry OP but Applying for a visa to visit somewhere takes time. It costs money. It adds hassle

That is a ridiculous argument.

Visas been around for and age. And a visa is a good way of knowing who is coming here, how long for and what they are doing.

Saying it puts people off... Omg if you want to go somewhere in the world then you apply for a visa and they don't cost that much!

If we're on about this from a purely tourist point of view I think visas should be brought back even within the EU and I also think you should fill out a thicko assessment form and be deemed unfit to travel if you have done fuck all investigation into where you are travelling and what documentation, passport type, insurances you may need.

Because thick people travelling piss me off. Not only would the return of visas and the thicko abroad assessment form make EVERYONES life easier the Daily Mail would collapse and fold without its bi weekly thicko sad faced tourist stories.

Anybody read the article by Baroness Jones of The Green Party in the Guardian today. The Green Case for Brexit.

It's interesting. Don't want to misquote her but she sees the EU as good for multinationals and bad for small businesses and individual countries.

She blames the Eu for the whole diesel thing.

Maybe that's why large corporations like yours are "bricking it" unexpsoc

Not that I want large corporates to fail but I would like them to play fair and pay their taxes.

The US visa system is a massive PITA - prone to sudden changes like a couple of months ago changing the rules so people with nine year old British passports had their ESTA revoked overnight. It DOES put people off coming, particularly for shorter visits.

I'll apply for a visa for a two-week holiday, but it would be a disproportionate effort for a weekend away.

Why would someone from Germany choose to do a weekend in Edinburgh if they had to apply for a visa when they could go to Paris without getting one?

I've seen plenty of big corporates running very well funded and active campaigns against a number of government policies and positions without fear that their criticism will have repercussions.

Anyone duggesting big corporates are too scared to upset a government by disagreeing with them publicly clearly hasn't been paying attention.

Or exactly was JassyRadlett said. It's laughable that the huge numbers of tourists from the EU will suddenly be made up for by tens of thousands of Chinese people waiting to jump on 12 hour plane journeys here.

Saying it puts people off... Omg if you want to go somewhere in the world then you apply for a visa and they don't cost that much

Says someone who has never tried to obtain an independent tourist visa to Russia or about half of Africa. I swear their consular services departments drew inspiration from Kafka.