Brexit and its Impact on the Tourism Industry of UK

This paper analyzes the impact of Brexit on the UK tourism industry and recommends changes in the tourism policy to mitigate the damage caused by it. The policy recommendation aims to promote sustainable tourism in the UK and facilitate effective conduct of tourism in the country. The paper suggests that the tourism authority of the UK needs to focus on developing the tourist destinations of the country itself and promote cultural or historical tourism. The usage of the concepts of industry development and marketing demand simulation is recommended to overcome the adverse effects of Brexit on the tourism industry of the UK.

Running head: TOURISM PLANNING ENVIRONMENT
BREXIT AND ITS IMPACT ON THE TOURISM INDUSTRY OF UK
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Position Statement
The aim of this discussion paper is to undertake an analysis of the impact of the Brexit
deal and its likely impact on the tourism industry. More importantly, this discussion also
elucidates the required changes in the tourism policy followed by the tourism authority of the
nation of United Kingdom (UK) so as to enable it to adjust to this emerging trend within the
tourism industry of the concerned nation. The concerned plan had been proposed by the
researcher for the National tourism planning, the goal of which is to facilitate the effective
conduct of tourism in UK and also to promote sustainable tourism in the concerned nation
through which the society, economy and the environment of UK would be able to benefit
substantially.
More importantly, the objective of the policy recommendation which the researcher had
made in this paper is to enable the National tourism planning to overcome the negative aspects of
the Brexit deal and thereby minimize the adverse effects of the same on the tourism industry of
the concerned nation or for that matter mitigate the damage that the concerned deal is likely to
cause to the tourism industry and the nation of UK in the longer-run. Furthermore, the usage of
the policy which had been recommended by the researcher as part of the National tourism
planning would require the tourism authority as well as the tourism corporations of the nation
under discussion here to substantially modify the nature of the tourism services which are being
offered by them to the tourists and also the target market on which they focus for the services
provided by them. In the light of these aspects, it can be said that this discussion paper becomes
an especially important one from the perspective of the present tourism industry of the nation of
UK and the threats that it faces on the score of the Brexit deal.

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Background Context
The nation of UK became a member of the European Union (EU) as per the “1975
referendum” as part of the different nations of the continent of Europe to attain the unification of
the concerned continent (Pappas 2019). More importantly, Perles-Ribes, Ramón-Rodríguez and
Ortuño Padilla (2019) are of the viewpoint that the nation of UK and other members of the EU
are entitled to different benefits like free trade policy in the member states, exchange of labor,
technological resources, no import or export charges for goods and others while conducting
business with the member states of EU. Furthermore, as discussed by Lim (2018), these
stipulations not only boosted the business corporations of the member states but also positively
affected the tourism industry of the concerned nations as well. For instance, it was seen that the
tourism corporations of the nation of UK had the opportunity to offer tourism services related to
the tourism destinations in the other member nations of the EU and for this they were not
required to pay any additional charges or for that matter capital to the concerned nations
(Amoamo 2018). Moreover, the tourism corporations also had the opportunity to procure cheap
labor or for that matter the human resources from the other member EU nations without having
to worry about the additional charges or others. In addition to these, the tourism corporations
before the Brexit deal needed to follow the stipulations or for that matter the regulations of the
EU which as a matter of fact where much simpler in nature when compared to the ones of the
national government of UK itself (McLoughlin & Hanrahan 2017). However, on 29th March,
2017 the national government of UK under the leadership of its Prime Minister May Theresa
decided to withdraw from the “Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union” through which it
became a part of the EU (Lathan, Green & Chagani 2017).

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McKee and McKee (2018) are of the viewpoint that the exit of the nation of UK from the
EU is likely to pose different kinds of issues or for that matter various problems not only for the
business corporations of the concerned nation but also its tourism industry as well. It is true that
in the present times the nation of UK had emerged as one of the most important tourist
destinations of the world and attracts perhaps the largest number of tourists from the different
parts of the world (Tarlow 2016). This in turn had not only positively affected the national
economy of the nation under discussion but also its society as well. However, an important
aspect of the tourism industry of the nation of UK is the fact that it also relied substantially on
the tourist destinations of the different EU member nations. For instance, a common practice
perceptible in the services offered by the different tourism corporations of the nation of UK is the
fact that they offer combo offers to the tourists through which they are not only able to enjoy the
tourist destinations of UK but also of the other EU member nations as well (Cirer-Costa 2016).
These in contributed significantly towards the exponential growth registered by the tourism
industry of the nation of UK. However, as discussed by Vickers (2018), post the Brexit deal, the
tourism corporations of the nation of UK would no longer be able to offer combo packages to the
tourists which in turn is not only likely to substantially reduce the number of tourist footfalls in
the concerned nation but at the same time likely to adversely affect the exponential growth rate
of the tourism industry of the nation under discussion here.
According to Begg (2016), an important business practice followed by the tourism
corporations of the nation of UK over the years is the fact that they procure cheap labor from the
different EU member nations. Adding to this, Mohamed, Pärn and Edwards (2017) have noted
that along with the cheap laborers which are entrusted with the work of performing the physical
labor, the tourism corporations of the concerned nation used to also procure highly qualification

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industry professionals from some of the top educational institutions of the EU member nations.
However, the tourism corporations of the nation of UK would no longer be able to follow this
practice in the wake of the Brexit deal. More importantly, as noted by Ferris et al. (2018), if the
UK tourism corporations decide to continue using the tourism destinations of the EU member
nations then they would have to pay additional subsidies or for that matter other charges to the
national governments of these nations since they would no longer be entitled to the free trade
policy that they had enjoyed when UK was a member nation of the EU. These in short are some
of the most important adverse effects of the Brexit deal which in turn had necessitated a change
in the tourism policy which had been followed by the tourism authority of the nation of UK over
the years for the management of the tourism industry of thee concerned nation.
Szpak et al. (2019) are of the viewpoint that the impending Brexit deal had also
necessitated a change in the status quo of the political arena of the entire continent of Europe
itself. For instance, in the earlier times it was seen that the different EU member nations used to
actively promote as well as support the business activities of the business corporations or for that
matter the different industries of the same. In addition to these, easy visa policies, border treaties
and others were being followed by all the member nations of the EU. However, in the wake of
the Brexit deal, the nation of UK had been completely ostracized by the other EU member
nations and as a matter of fact stringent visa regulations, border regulations and others have been
formulated which in turn is likely to adversely affect the tourism industry of the nation of UK
(Parker 2017). It is these factors which have made it imperative for the tourism authority of the
nation of UK to amend or for that matter modify it tourism policy so as to mitigate the adverse
effects or for that matter the threats posed by the Brexit deal or the exit of the nation under
discussion here from the EU.

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Statement of Need
The researcher in order to help the tourism authority of the nation of UK to overcome the
adverse effects of the threats posed by the Brexit deal had suggested some changes in the tourism
policy, which is being presently followed by the concerned nation. For instance, the tourism
authority of UK rather than focusing on the tourist destinations of the other EU member nations
for the tourism related services which are being offered by it to the tourists needs to undertake an
effective development of the tourist destinations of the nation of UK itself (Garrod et al. 2017).
In this relation, it needs to be said that the nation of UK itself boasts of different tourist
destinations which are extremely popular all over the world and had attracted numerous tourists
over the years. Thus, the advertisements or for that matter the promotional campaigns formulated
by the tourism authority of UK needs to focus on the promotion of these destinations rather than
the collective destinations that it used to promote in the earlier times of the diverse EU nations as
well. In addition to these, the tourism authority of UK can also take advantage of the rich
historical as well as the cultural heritage of the concerned nation for the promotion of cultural or
historical tourism in the nation (Walter 2017). More importantly, the focus of the tourism
authority of the nation under discussion here needs to be on the aspect of sustainable tourism
development which in turn is also facilitate the development of the other industries which are
directly dependent on the tourism industry of the concerned nation (French 2018). These
measures in turn are likely to facilitate the effective growth or for that matter the development of
the tourism industry of the nation of UK despite the threat posed by the impending Brexit deal.
Rasoolimanesh and Jaafar (2017) are of the viewpoint that one of the most important
needs for the change in the tourism planning process in the tourism industry of the nation of UK
becomes apparent when the threats posed by the Brexit deal are being taken into account. For

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instance, the nation of UK would no longer be able to enjoy or for that matter have access to the
privileges that it in the earlier times used to enjoy by virtue of its association with the EU.
Needless to say, these are likely to adversely affect not only the business corporations of the
nation under discussion here but also the different tourism corporations which are operational in
the concerned nation as well. More importantly, the need for the above mentioned changes in the
tourism policy followed by the tourism authority of the nation of UK also becomes apparent
from the adverse effects of the Brexit deal on the different stakeholders who are associated with
the tourism industry of UK (Vickers 2018). The tourists who frequently visit the nation of UK
for tourism are the ones who are most likely to get affected by the Brexit deal. For example, in
the earlier times it was seen that the tourists who visited the nation of UK for tourism purposes
also visited the other adjoining EU member nations for the same reasons (Bunakov et al. 2015).
Furthermore, because of the trade relations that the UK shared with the EU nations it was seen
that they did not have to face any substantial issues related to visa and others. However, in the
wake of the Brexit deal, the visa regulations, border treaties and others have been made more
stringent which in turn had adversely affected the tourists who visit the concerned nation for
tourism purposes (French 2018). This in turn had also reduced the satisfaction level of the
tourists and thus in the present times it had been seen that there are many tourists who do not opt
for the nation of UK for spending their holidays.
As discussed McLoughlin and Hanrahan (2017), the Brexit deal is also likely to adversely
affect the tourism corporations and also the nature or for that matter the range of the tourism
services which are being offered by them to the tourists. For instance, the Brexit had
substantially limited the scope of the tourism services which are being offered by the tourism
corporations to the tourists and this in turn is also to take a toll on the profitability of these

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corporations as well. In addition to these, the local people or for that matter the local community
members are also likely to get adversely affected on the score of the Brexit deal. In this relation,
it needs to be said that the local community members over the years have been able to derive a
substantial amount of benefit from the operations of the different tourism corporations or for that
matter the promotion of tourism activities in the nation of UK (McKee & McKee 2018).
Furthermore, it had been seen that along with the economic benefits, employment opportunities
and others the local community members have also been able to gain cultural competence
because of the tourism activities. In addition to these, the national government of the nation of
UK had also been able to derive a substantial amount of benefit because of the revenue generated
by the concerned industry and also the supported which is being offered by it to the other
industries (Pappas 2019). Thus, it can be said that these adverse effects of the Brexit deal on the
tourism industry of the nation of UK in turn becomes the major needs that had made the above
mentioned change in the tourism policy followed by the tourism authority of the nation under
discussion here of paramount importance.
Scope of the Proposed Plan
The researcher for the formulation of the above mentioned policy had taken the help of
the concepts of industry development and marketing demand simulation. More importantly, the
researcher through the adequate usage of these two concepts was not only able to effectively
understand the adverse impact of the Brexit on the tourism industry of the nation of UK but also
recommend the key policy changes through the tourism authority of the concerned nation can
effectively overcome the same. For instance, the adequate usage of the concept of industry
development helped the researcher to propose ways through which the tourism authority of the
nation of UK has the opportunity to effectively develop the tourism industry of UK despite the

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threats posed by the Brexit deal. More importantly, the effective usage of the process of industry
development would enable the tourism authority of the nation of UK to adequate development
the tourism industry by offering additional services to the tourists like hospitality, entertainment,
transportation, food and others (Lim 2018). These in turn are likely to help the tourism authority
of the nation of UK to compensate for the decline in the revenue or for that matter the
profitability that it is likely to face on the score of the adverse effects of the Brexit deal.
Ferris et al. (2018) are of the viewpoint that the usage of the concept of marketing
demand stipulation is an important measure that the tourism authority of the nation of UK had
the opportunity to use so as to overcome the adverse effects of the impending Brexit deal. As
discussed by Szpak et al. (2019), the usage of this process would require the tourism authority as
well as the tourism corporations of the nation of UK to substantially enhance the demand for the
tourism services that they offer to the tourists. This can be done adequately through the usage of
different kinds of attractive as well as appealing marketing campaigns, promotional
advertisements and others which would focus specifically on the tourist destinations of the nation
of UK and also the benefits that the tourists are likely to derive by visiting the tourist destinations
of the nation under discussion here. In the light of these aspects, it can be said that the effective
usage of these two measures are likely to help the tourism authority as well as the tourism
corporations of the nation of UK to overcome the adverse effects of the Brexit deal.
The tourism authority of UK would require adequate technological resources for the
usage of this policy since it would have to create various marketing campaigns, advertisements
and other. The major strength point of this policy is the fact that this had been designed taking
into the present scenario of the tourism industry of UK and thereby likely to help it to overcome
the threats or for that matter the negative aspects of the Brexit deal. More importantly, the

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adequate usage of this particular policy is also likely to positively benefit all the stakeholders
who are associated with the tourism industry of UK and thereby contribute towards the effective
development of the tourism industry of the concerned nation. The major weakness of this policy
is the fact that this had been designed taking into account the Brexit and thus within a very short
time the tourism authority would have to formulate a new plan since it would become redundant
after UK had been able to overcome the negative effects of the Brexit deal.
Proposed Processes
This policy was formulated taking into account the process of innovative value chain and
thus its different important stages, namely, idea generation, idea identification and idea diffusion
were being followed. For example, during the idea generation stage the different stakeholders
like tourists, tourism corporations and others were consulted to take their opinion regarding the
manner in which the tourism policy should be formulated to enable them to deal with negative
effects of Brexit. In the second stage, the best feasible policy idea was selected on the basis of
feasibility analysis and in the final stage information regarding it was cascaded and finally the
policy would be implemented. For the implementation of the policy, the different change
management models like Lewin’s change management models and others can be followed.
Furthermore, the tourism corporations, tourists, tourism authority of UK and others would play a
pivotal role during the actual implementation of this policy.

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