French and German tourists turn their back on Brexit Britain

[Scott]

 

and German tourists are beginning to avoid the UK, tourism leaders fear, because of post-Brexit restrictions on travelling with identity cards.

Since anti-Covid measures ended across Europe last year, tourism has started to recover, but there are growing signs that significant numbers of French and Germans – two of the largest markets for UK tourism – are staying away.

Since October 2021, EU citizens have needed a passport to enter the UK.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/apr/08/french-and-german-tourists-turn-their-back-on-brexit-britain

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

Not working that way in the other direction though, is it. Passports are needed for Brits and they've been waiting up to 16 hours to board a ferry because 1 - the ferries can't cope with the demand and 2 - the French are studying everyone's passport with the attention usually only seen by immigration officials in Thailand, where they slowly examine every page.

[thaibeachlovers]

I suspect something else is at play. Last time I was in Britain, the tourist numbers were horrendous, and I wasn't even there at peak season. Also, the British seem to have an aversion to public toilets- most of them were closed in central London, requiring a paying visit to McDonalds to use a loo. Not a good way to attract tourists.

[herfiehandbag]

1) It is The Guardian whining about Brexit.

 

2) Is anyone planning a holiday in the UK going to be put off by the simple requirement to have a passport to enter the country?

[JonnyF]

Maybe the Germans can go to Paris instead? Lovely this time of year.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11946855/Riot-police-battle-thousands-protestors-Paris-streets-French-pension-reform-plans.html

 

Seriously though, if you are put off travelling to a country because you have to show your passport to gain entry, you should probably stay at home. Presumably they are put off every country outside the EU? Or is this just another Brexit bashing article by The Guardian? 

[placeholder]

  On 4/10/2023 at 1:12 AM, JonnyF said:

Maybe the Germans can go to Paris instead? Lovely this time of year.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11946855/Riot-police-battle-thousands-protestors-Paris-streets-French-pension-reform-plans.html

 

Seriously though, if you are put off travelling to a country because you have to show your passport to gain entry, you should probably stay at home. Presumably they are put off every country outside the EU? Or is this just another Brexit bashing article by The Guardian? 

Expand  

There didn't used to be this obstacle to gain entry to the UK. Whereas it always existed for countries outside the EU.  (and possibly the few nations such as Norway and Switzerland that have special agreements with it).

[JonnyF]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:04 AM, placeholder said:

There didn't used to be this obstacle to gain entry to the UK. Whereas it always existed for countries outside the EU.  (and possibly the few nations such as Norway and Switzerland that have special agreements with it).

Expand  

Yes I'm well aware of that, thanks for pointing it out though ????.

 

Given the planning, expense and travel time that goes into the average holiday, a 5 minute 'obstacle' to show a passport isn't really a big deal. If that's enough to put you off travelling somewhere then you weren't that serious about going. Just more bleating from those who are bitter at losing the 2016 vote .

[Chomper Higgot]

  On 4/10/2023 at 12:03 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

Not working that way in the other direction though, is it. Passports are needed for Brits and they've been waiting up to 16 hours to board a ferry because 1 - the ferries can't cope with the demand and 2 - the French are studying everyone's passport with the attention usually only seen by immigration officials in Thailand, where they slowly examine every page.

Expand  

The gift that keeps giving.

[Chomper Higgot]

  On 4/10/2023 at 12:09 AM, herfiehandbag said:

1) It is The Guardian whining about Brexit.

 

2) Is anyone planning a holiday in the UK going to be put off by the simple requirement to have a passport to enter the country?

Expand  

And yet tourist numbers are down.

 

Go figure.

[Chomper Higgot]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:15 AM, JonnyF said:

Yes I'm well aware of that, thanks for pointing it out though ????.

 

Given the planning, expense and travel time that goes into the average holiday, a 5 minute 'obstacle' to show a passport isn't really a big deal. If that's enough to put you off travelling somewhere then you weren't that serious about going. Just more bleating from those who are bitter at losing the 2016 vote .

Expand  

It’s not simply the passport check, which in any case are not applied to EU passports returning from the UK.

 

There’s the whole problem of traffic jams on the UK side of the port.

 

A few hundred thousand fewer tourist, it’s not like the UK economy needs the money.

[placeholder]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:15 AM, JonnyF said:

Yes I'm well aware of that, thanks for pointing it out though ????.

 

Given the planning, expense and travel time that goes into the average holiday, a 5 minute 'obstacle' to show a passport isn't really a big deal. If that's enough to put you off travelling somewhere then you weren't that serious about going. Just more bleating from those who are bitter at losing the 2016 vote .

Expand  

This also from the article:

"The decline is not just down to the issue of passports – Brexit has also battered the perception of Britain as a welcoming nation for tourists. Data from Visit Britain and the Anholt Ipsos Nation Brand Index shows a decline in how French and German people view the UK’s standing compared with other countries.

In 2016, Germans ranked the UK as the 7th best place to visit, and French people ranked it 9th. By 2022, the UK had fallen to 16th and 14th respectively."

[placeholder]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:22 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s not simply the passport check, which in any case are not applied to EU passports returning from the UK.

 

There’s the whole problem of traffic jams on the UK side of the port.

 

Expand  

That is an excellent point. Who wants to put up with that?

[transam]

I see the Brit, Brit bashers are out, any excuse......................

[placeholder]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:43 AM, transam said:

I see the Brit, Brit bashers are out, any excuse......................

Expand  

I see another Brexiter is out. And, as usual, deflecting.

[JonnyF]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:22 AM, Chomper Higgot said:

It’s not simply the passport check, which in any case are not applied to EU passports returning from the UK.

 

There’s the whole problem of traffic jams on the UK side of the port.

Expand  

Port? I normally go to the airport to catch my flights. I don't go anywhere near a port. Who gets a ferry to the UK from Germany?

 

If our French friends have to save money by getting here on a ferry, they are probably not high value tourists anyway. Or possibly the type of "tourists" who never leave, in which case the fact they are put off coming is probably another benefit of Brexit.

[placeholder]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:58 AM, JonnyF said:

Port? I normally go to the airport to catch my flights. I don't go anywhere near a port. Who gets a ferry to the UK from Germany?

 

If our French friends have to save money by getting here on a ferry, they are probably not high value tourists anyway. Or possibly the type of "tourists" who never leave, in which case the fact they are put off coming is probably another benefit of Brexit.

Expand  

Tell that to the British enterprises which are severely affected by the loss. Another dubious but convenient assumption from you.

[daejung]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:58 AM, JonnyF said:

Port? I normally go to the airport to catch my flights. I don't go anywhere near a port. Who gets a ferry to the UK from Germany?

 

If our French friends have to save money by getting here on a ferry, they are probably not high value tourists anyway. Or possibly the type of "tourists" who never leave, in which case the fact they are put off coming is probably another benefit of Brexit.

Expand  

Only 40% of french have a passport and it is very complicated now to get one (up to 6 months waiting). Most don't need it to travel all over Europe and won't take one just for 2 nights in UK.

 

Flight is not always the most convenient way to get there. There is Eurostar too.

 

[JonnyF]

  On 4/10/2023 at 3:18 AM, daejung said:

Only 40% of french have a passport and it is very complicated now to get one (up to 6 months waiting). Most don't need it to travel all over Europe and won't take one just for 2 nights in UK.

 

Flight is not always the most convenient way to get there. There is Eurostar too.

 

Expand  

French inefficiency at issuing passports to their citizens is not the UK's problem. Maybe if they weren't all rioting over pensions it wouldn't take so long?

 

If they are only staying 2 nights it's no great loss. They can go to Estonia if it's so difficult to produce a passport.

[stevenl]

  On 4/10/2023 at 3:46 AM, JonnyF said:

French inefficiency at issuing passports to their citizens is not the UK's problem.<snip>

Expand  

Talk about sticking your head in the sand.

[transam]

  On 4/10/2023 at 2:52 AM, placeholder said:

I see another Brexiter is out. And, as usual, deflecting.

Expand  

The truth obviously hurts you.....

[placeholder]

 

  On 4/10/2023 at 3:46 AM, JonnyF said:

French inefficiency at issuing passports to their citizens is not the UK's problem. Maybe if they weren't all rioting over pensions it wouldn't take so long?

 

If they are only staying 2 nights it's no great loss. They can go to Estonia if it's so difficult to produce a passport.

Expand  

Actually, you're wrong. It is the UK's problem. And we know that because it couldn't have been a problem before Brexit..

 

And once again you make a B.S. speculation about the reason for why it takes 6 months for a passport to be issued. Or maybe you can link to some source that supports you in that regard? You don't seem to be able to resist posting empty calumnies. There's a word for that kind of practice.

[placeholder]

  On 4/10/2023 at 3:52 AM, transam said:

The truth obviously hurts you.....

Expand  

And all you've got for a reply is to make it personal. You've got nothing.

[Scott]

Off-topic post reported and removed.

 

[Confuscious]

  On 4/10/2023 at 12:03 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

Not working that way in the other direction though, is it. Passports are needed for Brits and they've been waiting up to 16 hours to board a ferry because 1 - the ferries can't cope with the demand and 2 - the French are studying everyone's passport with the attention usually only seen by immigration officials in Thailand, where they slowly examine every page.

Expand  

The same in the early years of the EU.
Belgium wanted to introduce a "Peage (= tax)" on their highways like France did and the reaction of the French was crazy.

I always wondered why the British (and other nations) lost so many lives to free the coward French in WW2.
Trying to save a snake and when it is saved it will bite you.

[Seppius]

The Albanian "tourists" are filling the gap, they love UK hotels, they find them very cheap????

[StayinThailand2much]

  On 4/10/2023 at 12:08 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I suspect something else is at play.

Expand  

Me too. Who travels abroad without a passport? The real reason has probably more to do with rising costs for hotels, etc., due to staff shortages in the UK thanks to Covid and Brexit, probably resulting in fewer (open) hotels and higher room prices.

[transam]

  On 4/10/2023 at 3:55 AM, placeholder said:

And all you've got for a reply is to make it personal. You've got nothing.

Expand  

I've got everything, sunbeam............????

[Caldera]

That doesn't surprise me. Miserable weather, and the food is even worse.

 

Not the kind of country worth visiting if you'd need to apply for a passport just for that trip, while you can visit plenty of EU countries with just your ID card. Those who do have a passport are more likely interested in more faraway places (such as the US or, wait for it, Thailand).

 

I'll leave it there before I'll rant about "pleasure beaches".

[transam]

  On 4/10/2023 at 5:27 AM, Caldera said:

That doesn't surprise me. Miserable weather, and the food is even worse.

 

Not the kind of country worth visiting if you'd need to apply for a passport just for that trip, while you can visit plenty of EU countries with just your ID card. Those who do have a passport are more likely interested in more faraway places (such as the US or, wait for it, Thailand).

 

I'll leave it there before I'll rant about "pleasure beaches".

Expand  

Yet another Brit bash, now I wonder where you come from..............

[Caldera]

  On 4/10/2023 at 5:29 AM, transam said:

Yet another Brit bash, now I wonder where you come from..............

Expand  

Read the headline and take your pick, Sir. You seem to prefer to spend time in Thailand instead, too. Did I actually write anything that is factually wrong?