The Brexit tourism economy in the U.K

Despite the climate of general uncertainty caused by the ‘Brexit influence’, tourism in the UK has grown since 2013, starting from a number of 32 million visitors per year.

In 2019, 40 million tourists and an increase of 31 billion pounds are expected, which can guarantee British sectoral economic stability in a critical political phase and of mistrust towards the European Union.

From 2017 to today, a loss of -1.6 million visitors to the UK has been calculated, but this country’s determination to avoid an economic crisis in tourism is already planned.

Spain remains the favorite destination with more than 15 million visitors, France with +8 million and Italy with +4 million. In the UK it will therefore be necessary to mitigate the European economic problems especially towards these countries.

Not only that, but also to encourage relations with the US overseas markets and the growing markets of India, China, Russia and Brazil, as well as domestic tourism.

In fact, with Brexit policies, the English population will be more conditioned to travel within their own country, consolidating and encouraging the reconstruction of the budget and the economy, not only in the UK, but also internationally.

Local tourism must become more competitive, challenging the weakness of the pound and promoting different possible destinations to foreign tourists and therefore be less ‘London-centric’.

London, in fact, appears to be the favorite destination with almost 20 million visitors, representing more than 90% of preferences, with a clear gap from Edinburgh in second place and Manchester in third place.

With the progress of domestic tourism, the valorisation of various tourist destinations in the UK and the improvement of tourist reception such as hotel accommodation, booking systems and more attention to tourists, a possible crisis in the sector will be avoided which, in the long term, it could undermine the socio-economic and political stability towards the EU that the United Kingdom has been accustomed to for more than 40 years.