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The UK government’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will be hugely damaging to the North’s tourism industry. That's according to Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty. The scheme will mean non-Irish or UK citizens will need an ETA to travel between the Republic and the North.
Mr. McNulty said “I was flabbergasted to hear the UK government’s Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick admit that the government’s ETA plans and the failure to provide people travelling into the North from the Republic with an exemption would have an impact on tourism here. In real terms this will mean fewer people visiting the North due to this unnecessary red tape, with an impact on businesses, jobs and wages for families who rely on the tourist industry to earn a living.
“At Westminster, the SDLP has repeatedly made the case that the ETA plans are unworkable given the unique circumstances on our island and the government have repeatedly failed to listen to the pleas of the tourism industry around the negative impact this will have, even in the face of their own analysis. It is also acknowledged by the government that the vast majority of people travelling North won’t be recorded, so the mechanism doesn’t even fulfil its stated aim of tracking arrivals. It creates a tourism deterrent and potential legal jeopardy for no good reason."
Mr McNulty believes it shows just how little the government cares about people here. "As a direct result we will see more and more people who visit our island deciding to stop at the border and not make the trip North, coach holidays will decide to exclude our attractions from their routes and all of the hard work that has gone into building up our tourism industry over the last few decades will be undone." he said.
The Newry and Armagh public representative concluded “I am urging the government to listen to the local tourism industry and find a solution before this harmful policy comes into place. Allowing tourists in the Republic to seamlessly visit the North poses no threat to UK security and the SDLP will keep fighting alongside industry representatives to resist the imposition of the ETA scheme here.”
In a Commons question yesterday MLA Claire Hanna spoke of the serious impact it potentially will have on the tourism industry here "He will be aware of that impact and the fact that many decisions to come north are ad hoc ones to visit, for example, the Ulster Museum, the Lyric Theatre or the Let’s Go Hydro water park, or for destination shopping on the Lisburn Road. Has his Department conducted any economic analysis of the loss to Northern Irish businesses of those ad hoc decisions to come north for just one day in a trip to the island?"
In reply Mr Jenrick said "The Department has conducted an impact analysis, which shows that there is an impact on tourism in Northern Ireland. However, we still consider that the overall value to the security of the United Kingdom outweighs concerns about that impact.
"That does not mean that we do not take mitigating steps, one of which is to work with the Northern Irish tourism bodies on communications. I have mentioned that and my officials met representatives from the Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland last month to begin discussions about how we can collectively work together on communications, both within the UK and abroad. Clearly, there is more work to be done in that regard with travel agents and some of the ancillary services to which the hon. Member for North Down referred, such as insurance companies and car rental companies, to ensure that this message is properly communicated to all involved."
The ETA is being introduced on a phased basis later this year and it is expected to cost £10.
