While surveys suggest that more Brits will be vacationing in the UK after Brexit, the tourism industry is worried that post-Brexit immigration rules will leave them short of staff to serve the guests.
The UK tourism industry has come to rely heavily on workers from continental Europe to staff its hotels, travel agencies, transport systems and more, and many of those jobs are classified as ‘low-skilled.’ The UK government has proposed that post-Brexit, a new skills- and salary-assessed system will restrict the number of low-skilled immigrants.
Among jobs in the tourism industry that are currently classified as low-skilled are travel agents, tour guides, bus conductors, holiday reps and reservation staff, not to mention hotel maintenance, housekeeping and kitchen workers. The average salary of these workers is currently about £17,000, far below the £30,000 floor the government is proposing.
On the other hand, the crisis may be a tempest in a teapot if there’s a sharp drop in the number of overseas visitors to the UK. EU residents, who can presently visit with only their national ID cards, will need to bring passports and visas in future. The chief executive of the European Tourism Association told The Independent that the cost of getting a passport and the perception of being less than welcome is already having an effect.
“We overestimate the attractiveness of the UK to some of these people,” he said.
