If you work in tourism in the UK, how’s business?

[BoomTish]

I’m not British so I have no skin in the Brexit game. I am, however, European and, for the past six years, have holidayed in the UK for three weeks every summer.
The reason we go to the UK is that we don’t want hot weather, we’ve developed a bit of an affinity for the area we visit, and we love how dog-friendly the area is. My dog has a pet passport that we can use across Europe.
We travel quite a bit, so a sedate three weeks in England works beautifully for us.

Typically, we rent a house for three weeks in Cornwall at a cost of about £4,500. I’d estimate that we spend another £2,000 on visiting attractions, eating out, petrol, shopping etc. The usual stuff. We stay near a small village and there’s a bigger town nearby so the money we spend stays fairly local.

By this time of the year, I’d normally have booked accommodation and have paid a deposit.

This year, we haven’t booked anything in the UK yet and are unlikely to. I’m going to start looking at alternative destinations in the coming weeks.

The reasons are that nobody has been able to give me an answer about what will happen with the pet passport process in the case of a no deal. My fear is that my dog will have to be quarantined leaving Britain. She’s elderly and I don’t think she’d survive quarantine.
I get that the risk of this happening is minimal, but I just wouldn’t be able to relax knowing that she might not be able to travel freely.

Additionally, the uncertainty spooks me. While I don’t think there’ll be rioting on the streets at the start of April, I just couldn’t be bothered commuting to a holiday in a country with that level of uncertainty.

I don’t have any fears about racial abuse, but I do feel a little unwanted. Funnily enough, I was in Cornwall when the referendum took place, and got a few comments that were a bit close to the bone from pro-Brexit people.

Anyway, the reason I’m asking is that today I received a call from the agency we normally book the holiday home through. They asked if I was intending on booking this year and I said I don’t know yet. We had a chat and it looks like they have a lot fewer bookings that normal for the rest of the year. I was a bit surprised to hear this as I had thought that plenty of Brits would holiday at home if they were experiencing uncertainty about traveling. Holiday company guy said they haven’t seen an increase in domestic bookings, but a definite decrease in visiting Europeans. Obviously, it’s only March so still plenty of time.

So, finally, to my question. If you’re in the holiday trade and usually have a lot of European customers, have you noticed any decrease in bookings? Or have domestic bookings increased to cancel that out?

I get that the risk of this happening is minimal,

Why do you think that? The disappearance of pet passports is one of the more predictable consequences of no deal.

A friend owns a very nice gîte in the south of France and she has no British bookings at all this summer. She doesn't only let to Brits but they are usually a fair chunk of her summer holiday business.

Why do you think that?

I’m thinking that there’s no benefit to any country in keeping a lot of pets in quarantine, given they’ve come from a rabies-free zone.

Animals can't cross EU borders without the right legal paperwork, whether or not anyone derives any "benefit" from that.

I'm surprised about what you say about poor bookings for British holidays - maybe if the place you book is quite upmarket it's a sign that people are trading down due to economic uncertainty?

Ahh see, your thinking logical but the UK gov has gone mad, there's no guarantee over pet passports. There's no guarantee of medications or food either! Skip the UK this year and consider visiting next year?

Lots of British people I know are planning on holidaying in the UK this year rather than going aboard so I'm a bit surprised the UK bookings are down. Thought it would be the opposite. I suspect lots of people are waiting until we know whether we're facing complete economic disaster.

We have just booked a holiday, in August, for two weeks. The fact that there were places available at this time of year makes me think bookings are down.

Gosh you spend a lot on hols, OP.

Denmark is nice, OP. Norway, too. Parts of Poland, Estonia, I bet they have cool weather you like. I think you'll have to look elsewhere for hols this year.

Isn't it more likely that your dog would have to be quarantined on arrival in the UK? Rendering the whole "taking dog with you" pointless. :( I did read something the other day about pet passports not applying post Brexit, I tagged a friend on FB because she often travels back and forth to France with her dogs...

I'm a bit surprised the UK bookings are down. Thought it would be the opposite

Me too. I guess that’s why I started the thread- trying to figure out if it’s across the board. I figured European visitors would stay away, but Brits would holiday at home. However, given job cuts/economic uncertainty, fewer people may be taking a holiday in the first place. Plus, if you’re on a budget, a week in a Spanish resort all-inclusive would probably be cheaper than self-catering and petrol costs to Cornwall?

I feel a bit sad because the area we visit is very heavily reliant on tourism. I read an article a while back that gave the average annual wage in the area as £18,800. The £6.5k or so I spend while there is a fairly big chunk, compared to the spending power of non-tourists.

On the other hand, I think the pro-Brexit vote in Cornwall was something like 56%, so I guess the people there felt they took this in to account when they voted.

On the pet passport piece, my understanding is that it’s the destination country that can accept or deny the pet? So, if I’m traveling from (for example) Spain to Britain, my dog can be refused entry on the British side and would need to be quarantined. If that happened, I’d endeavor to just return to Spain immediately, bringing her with me.

On the other hand, if I left Britain and was entering Spain, would they see the need to quarantine a pet who is confirmed as rabies-free/healthy/fit to travel, at an operational cost to Spain (ie, they’d need an awful lot more quantities spaces, staff etc) and originating from a country that’s rabies-free?

Though it looks like an EU-issued pet passport will get you both in and out again : www.gov.uk/guidance/pet-travel-to-europe-after-brexit

Gosh you spend a lot on hols, OP

Yeah. We love our holidays and lucky to have a decent budget.

Denmark is nice, OP. Norway, too. Parts of Poland, Estonia

Haven’t been to Poland or Estonia, but loved Norway, and Denmark was beautiful too. We were in Iceland a few months ago, and will be in Italy for Easter.

I suppose that’s the bit that gets me. We go to the UK because we like it. We have lots of other options so can easily holiday elsewhere so not going is no big deal, we’ll just choose somewhere else.

But, for the tourist industry, in a low-paid, tourist-dependent area, this has to be disasterous.

On the other hand, if I left Britain and was entering Spain, would they see the need to quarantine a pet who is confirmed as rabies-free/healthy/fit to travel, at an operational cost to Spain (ie, they’d need an awful lot more quantities spaces, staff etc) and originating from a country that’s rabies-free?

You're asking a question nobody has an answer to right now.

Many amazing places in EU for a holiday with your dog... Enjoy!

@HirplesWithHaggis Thank you for the link. It’s the uncertainty that gets me. I’m worried about leaving the UK and being able to get my dog back in to an EU country. The way I read that info, a British person who has a pet issued with paperwork in the UK can exit and enter, but I can’t see anything relating to non-UK pets getting back in to their originating country. In the event of a no deal, would each EU country not have to negotiate these terms with the UK?

That’s the bit I had in mind when I said I thought it was unlikely that it would be a problem. The little niggle just makes it hard to justify, though.

I had the dog at the vet’s recently and I was asking him for advice. He couldn’t give me any. He’s a very good vet and I trust him, but he’s the one who raised the issue of how she’s fare in quarantine, if it ever came to that.

(Incidentally, I accept that “my dog likes Cornwall but now we’ll have to holiday somewhere else” is a total first world problem, but I suppose this thread is more about the wider impact of Brexit on British tourism, if there is any impact).

At the moment the uncertainty must be killing tourism. No one knows how bad it's going to be. I'm flying hopefully on the 30th March!

It was this bit I thought might apply to you:

UK nationals living abroad
If you’re living in Europe and are planning to travel with your pet using a UK-issued pet passport, you should speak to your local vet. They’ll be able to help you understand the impact of Brexit and ensure you’re compliant with EU Pet Travel Regulations.

If you have a pet passport issued by an EU member state, you can use it to bring your pet to the UK.

To return your pet to an EU country from the UK, you’ll need to ensure it has a successful rabies antibody blood test.

If your pet has a successful blood test before leaving the EU you will not need to wait the 3 months before travelling.

I realise it's aimed at UK citizens, but I can't see why an EU citizen with a pet with an EU passport would be treated differently. But of course it's impossible to tell for sure, and I can totally understand why you wouldn't want to take the risk.

but Brits would holiday at home

Thing is, many Brita still don’t understand that the big change that is Brexit is actually going to impact on them. Business people have figured it out, car workers have (now) but even a month ago they were interviewing factory workers who said it would all be fine and not mean job losses, farmers are now sounding the alarm (after being very pro leave esp round here), but your average man on the street is not paying attention.

The UK government’s advice notices for hard Brexit are crap, but no one bothers to look at the EU technical notices, which are better. There was also supposed to be a consumer friendly website that explained all the implications, but the only think that exists requires serious reading and comprehension skills.

We’re actually booked to go To Germany, and I have faith it will be fine, mainly because the EU at least has sense and will set up a system to let tourists in. The UK govt on the other hand is incompetent and so if I was in the rEU i wouldn’t holiday in the UK this year.

I don't work in tourism so can't really help. I am however curious to know which part of Cornwall is dog friendly. I only went once years ago and didn't find it dog friendly so haven't returned but would like to.

@NicoAndTheNiners It’s probably quite subjective because I live in a country that’s very dog-unfriendly. A lot of cafes etc won’t even let you sit on an outdoor bench with a small dog. There has been a bit of an improvement in recent years and some dog-friendly cafe have sprung up but they’re few and far between.

In Cornwall, we tend to stay near to Falmouth. While the town itself isn’t amazing dog-friendly, lots of the surrounding villlages are, and she’s been allowed in to lots of National Trust sites, and even a seal sanctuary (she loved that )

Yes we had planned to take the kids to Legoland late March ( Brexit week but leave before the 29th) we have decided against it as I just don't want to be worrying about potential problems.

We are waiting to see what happens before booking anything, and I suspect a lot of people are in the same boat. We would prefer to have booked a trip to Europe by now but financially need to see what the score is before making any decisions.

Jan 2019: A self-catering holiday provider in Cornwall is reporting a 41 per cent increase in bookings, compared to this time last year

www.cornwallchamber.co.uk/news/details/huge-rise-in-holiday-bookings-01-31-2019

Truro-based Cornwalls Cottages manages more than 350 holiday homes throughout the county.

“It’s been absolutely nuts since November and shows no signs of slowing down.We just need new properties to meet the demand.”

“Last year’s sunshine definitely had an immediate effect, with visitors keen to organise their 2019 holidays well in advance."

“Brexit is the other major factor, especially with all the uncertainty around whether or not a deal will be in place before we leave the European Union at the end of March.

People who normally take their dogs abroad, for example, are worried that their EU pet passports will no longer be valid - meaning they’ll need to plan months ahead if they want to take their pets away with them.

In all the years I’ve been doing this job, I’ve honestly never seen such a sustained surge in demand.

They appear to have added 50 more cottages to their books since the article - they are now advertising 400 cottages;
www.cornwallscottages.co.uk/

Thanks @boomtish, I tend to go to the Lakes especially Keswick as it's so dog friendly. Dogs can go in 99% of the cafes, shops and pubs. Will check out Falmouth etc as I think ddog would quite like to go to a seal sanctuary!

I'm not booking any holiday this year until after April. I wouldn't dare to book a holiday abroad for fear of losing my money/holiday. I don't even want to book a UK holiday until I know what's what. I might seriously need that money in the not too distant future.

I normally go abroad four or five times a year (no kids), and I haven’t got anything booked in this year.
We’re saving the money and doing weekends in the UK and a staycation.

In the Travel section there seem to be lots of people planning holidays in the EU and all over the world with nary a care about Brexit. I do find it odd.