Impact of Brexit on UK Tourism

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Research Background

Tourism is regarded as one of the UK’s biggest and most successful industries. It is the fifth biggest industry concerning global traveler expenditure and the eighth-most significant sector concerning several travelers. It has ranked fifth in the world concerning global competitiveness. The segments that include the UK tourism segment cooperatively generate about £130 billion for the economy of the country and £25 billion in export earnings (Tourism Alliance, 2017). Various factors determine the effectiveness of the tourism industry in the UK; however, in recent times, Brexit can also have an impact on those factors which influence tourism. On 23rd June 2016, the UK called for 2nd poll to choose whether it should stay as a member of the EU. The poll resulted in support of the UK leaving the EU, where about 51.9% of British people voted for Brexit. The outcome of this vote in favor of leaving the EU and its announcement on 29th March 2017 caused negotiation procedure, which comes to an end in 2019. Such events have an individual impact on tourism, and the present research analyses this factor (Sima, 2017). Nonetheless, there is still immense uncertainty regarding various aspects of Brexit; and as a cross border industry, tourism can be specifically under threat.

1.2 Research Problem

Following the reports of Skift, corporate travel to the UK reduced by about 4% for the year 2017. According to UNWTO, the number of travelers in the UK is reduced by about 5.3% in the year 2018. The National Tourist Board forecasted that travelers would spend around £27 billion, and the number of travelers would reach 41.7 million in 2019 from 39.2 million in 2017, supported by the falling value of Pound. The following figure demonstrates the number of visits to the UK (Walker, 2019).

From the above figure, it can be observed that irrespective of Brexit, the number of visitors in the UK has increased. If the outcome of the poll in the year 2016 created an anti-Britain sentiment in the European continent, then the number of travelers would reduce almost instantly. However, in reality, the reverse happened. The number of visits by Europeans in the UK has become more than doubled in 2016 than visits from travelers from the rest of the globe. This generates a fundamental question of what Brexit could mean for the tourism industry in the UK (The Guardian, 2016). In the report of Destination UK, it has been revealed that more than one-third of adults in Britain are selecting to holiday closer to the UK in 2017. This calls for research understanding the factors affecting the tourism industry in the UK in the post-Brexit period (Global Business Travel, 2019).

1.3 Research Gap

There is currently significant uncertainty regarding every aspect of Brexit. It is hard to understand how the tourism industry is influenced by it. Nonetheless, Brexit will impact (positively or negatively) on the tourism industry, both inbound and outbound. There is not much research has been done on this subject, and existing studies are quite fragmented. The majority of researches only concentrated on certain aspects of Brexit’s influence on tourism such as the impact of the exchange rate, the impact of hotel rates or impact on air travel, among others. Therefore, the research is going to analyze about the factors which have impact on tourism industry in the UK after Brexit.

1.4 Research Question

While considering the present condition and the research problem, the key question that has been answered in this research is

“What are the factors affecting tourism industry in the UK in post Brexit period?”

The objectives of the research are:

To understand the affect that Brexit can have on UK’s tourism industry

To understand the factors influencing the UK’s tourism industry and

To understand the areas of impact from Brexit on UK tourism

1.5 Research Significance

The significance of the research is clear as it provides significant understanding about the tourism industry factors. The existing research is important as it provides an extensive perspective of the possible impact of various factors on the tourism industry of the UK. This research additionally examines the subject and investigate the complex impact of Brexit on this segment. Brexit’s actual influence on tourism industry is still unknown and hence more research is required in order to understand how this aspect has influenced on other variables of travel and tourism industry in the UK.

1.6 Research Structure

The introduction chapter of this research comprises present condition of tourism industry in the UK. It is followed by the literature review chapter, which is the main chapter of the research. This chapter is divided into three key sections, which are factors of tourism, Brexit and impact of Brexit on tourism factors. The third chapter is research methodology, which discusses about the methods that has been used in order to conduct the research, which is followed by findings and analysis section where data obtained from different sources are presented and evaluated in accordance with the research problem. The research is concluded with conclusion and recommendation section, which provides summary of the findings and an outlook of future research prospects (see following figure).

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 Introduction to Brexit

According to WSJ (2020), Brexit is a term which refers to leaving of the United Kingdom from the European Union. In the year 2015, the parliament of the UK have started legal basis for the referendum of Brexit along with European Union referendum Act and manifesto of election of conservative party. David Cameron, prime minister of UK has made an announcement regarding holding referendum to acknowledge perspective of people on continuation of European union membership of UK. When David came into power after general election in 2015 than government held the referendum publicly naming it as Brexit referendum wherein more than 50% of the electorate had made the decisions on favor of the United Kingdom of leaving European Union. PM David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne resigned their job post referendum and Theresa May was placed by PM and Philips Hammond Osborne as Chancellor. Theresa May had made an announced usage of 12 Point plan for the negotiation objectives and even non-continuation of the membership of UK in the European single market (May 2017). The UK Government have also initiated appropriate procedure for the Brexit by including Article 50 of Treaty on European Union. Theresa May had made a claim that ‘Brexit means Brexit’ which even verified malleability regarding the concept. The campaign of referendum has shown that Brexit idea could be used in variety of post-Brexit scenarios. The lack of plans in the UK by its government have led to debates and have also bought uncertainty which ranged from hard Brexit to the soft Brexit. Brexit is renowned for its reconstructed external United Kingdom’s image which are surrounded in pre-existing and competing discourses. In March 2019, the parliament of UK gave vote to May wherein it was asked to EU to delay Brexit till October. Since, the agreement didn’t get approved so May resigned from the post of prime minister and Boris Johnson took the post (WSJ, 2020). The conservative won the election with greater majority and Johnson was declared as Minister wherein withdrawal agreement was approved by the UK on 23 January and entered into force by 31 January.

2.2 Concept of tourism industry

Tourism is the travel to pleasure and practice of touring, the attracting business, accommodating and entertaining tourists. The tourism could be domestic or international wherein international tourism possess both incoming and outgoing allegations on the balance of payment of the country. Tourism offers larger number of benefits which includes economic benefits for those countries which attract larger visitors’ number because of the money spend by the visitors not only for actual stay but also for the purpose of local business. This leads to job opportunities to larger number of people who work in tourism industry. This industry even possesses potential to improvise the links between nosiness, to generate opportunities for recreation and entertainment and to improvise currency values. This can even open the opportunities for the exchange of cultural opportunities and improvise happiness, education and well-beings for the tourists (European Council, 2017). There are number of sectors on tourism which includes transportation, accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment and connected industries. The tourism sector helps tourists to go to any places they want to visit by the means of transport. Airline industry, Car rental, water transport, coach services, railways, spacecrafts are some of the areas which provide serviced linked to road, rail, air and sea travels. This means assist people to attain their intended holiday destination and help in getting around after they arrive at the destination (Janson, 2017). The accommodation sector is another essential point to tourism industry as people who travel to various area need place to stay, rest, unwind and sleep. This facility is needed by the tourist when their stay exceeds 24 hours and make the usage of overnight accommodation. Hotels, shared accommodation, hostels, camping, bed & breakfast, cruises, etc. are the components which arrives in the field of accommodation. Taking United kingdom into consideration, it is seen that United Kingdom is influential countries of Europe wherein United Kingdom is one of the sovereign states which is positioned in North western coast of continental Europe. The UK is 27th member states of the European union and is spread around 243,000 square kilometers. The UK possess seventh largest economy by the nominal GDP and eighth largest economy by purchase parity of power (Parkinson, 2016). Tourism is foremost industry in the UK, and it is 7th biggest attraction of tourist after France, USA, China, Spain, Italy and Turkey. It is found that UK tourism had grown to £188b with next decade which is 60% by 2020 and jobs linked with tourism linked to tourism would increase instantly (Jackson, Akhtar and Mix,2016). Looking for further insights on Monopoly in Public Transport: Bus Services? Click here.

2.3 Factors affecting tourism industry

It is desire of each of the country to be listed as country to visits for holidays and business. The popularity and economy get increased when there is increase of tourists in a country. Countries are hoping to increase and attract a greater number of tourists by improving and developing and upgrading the tourist’s spots. There needs to be promotions and advertisement to further develop the tourists towards the country. However, there are various factors which have negative effects on the tourism industry (European Council, 2017). Political instability is one of the major reasons which influence the tourist as instability leads to various disturbances, strikes, wars, etc. which make them feel unsafe and insecure. Economy is another factor which influence the tourist as economic recession makes people more aware and careful while spending money. The saving of the money would be major agenda for people and saving money for food would be preferred rather than on shopping (Janson, 2017). Tourist even prefers to visit those places which doesn’t charge for accommodation and even discouraged to travel until recession is not over. The outbreak of diseases or plagues in a country even restrict the tourists to avoid making the visits to that country. Tourists doesn’t prefer to visit those country which possess disaster as they don’t want to take any chance to fall ill (Parris, 2017). Natural disaster is another major factor which doesn’t allow the tourist to visit the area which is victim of the disaster. Although, the disaster occurs naturally and cannot be controlled by human, but people ignore or cancel to visits those places which face these disaster as they feel like that is not safe place to stay. Lastly, weather conditions are also a factor which deter tourists to visit the country as human doesn’t possess strength to fight with natural change of climate and weather. If a country exhibit extreme bad weather like heat wave, heavy snow fall or cyclone or heavy rainfall than tourist will not make plan to visit those place (Footman & et. al., 2015). Thus, it could be stated that there are larger number of factors which influence the tourism industry.

2.4 Factors affecting tourism industry in the UK post Brexit

According to Jackson, Akhtar and Mix (2016), Tourism industry have played a major role in increasing the financial growth of the UK and this industry is even fourth largest industry in the UK. There are various factors which could impact the UK tourism sectors post Brexit. There is higher probability that there could be reduction in the capital investments in the tourism industry where investors would be anxious regarding investment of larger sum of amount in that market which is not certain. The investors would not invest its money on the market until country doesn’t make friendly relationship with investors and retain its ability to employ the talented foreign people. It was even reviewed that EU countries have contributed to 48% of its UK inflow of Foreign n direct investments by the year 2015(Hannan, 2017). However, as per the PWC, the investments made by the end of July 2016 went down because of uncertainty which is followed by Brexit referendum. The exit of Britain and leaving of the EU would no longer make UK to be subjected to free movement of people. Since, majority of visitors who visits the UK arrived from the EU, so it benefits the tourism industry of UK. however, there might be major barriers on the EU citizen who are travelling to the UK for their holiday. The tourism industry would face major issue if UK government place a restriction over the citizen of EU who are working in the UK (Hannan, 2017b). The corporate and business travelers had also faced and are influenced negatively because of the uncertainty in Brexit policies. This have made companies to give cautious and strict travel policies wherein legislations impact the buying decisions in the corporate travel sectors. As the leisure demands of the customers are enhancing and the corporate business travel is starting to slow down the impact on hotel sectors than it is found affecting underlying ADR performance because of the leisure business trends which is affordable as compared to corporate business travel. Lastly, it is even reviewed that decision of UK to leave the European Union would even make a greater number of people to opt for staycation rather than travelling abroad (Hannan, 2017b). The trend of staycations has attained popularity since 2016 and trends have led to increase booking for the local hotels. There was growth in the regional hotel sectors after the Brexit Vote and the occupancy rates in London and other parts declined by 0.8%. It can thus be stated that capital investments, free movement of people, business travel and return of the staycation are some of the factors which impact the UK tourism industry post-Brexit.

2.5 Influence of UK post Brexit on tourism industry

The exit of Britain has brought a tremendous impact on each of the sectors wherein tourism industry is equally influenced by it. according to the World Travel & Tourism Council have forecasted minimizing in the outbound travel because of the Brexit impact on the sterling’s value. There was even reduction in the volume of tourists coming to UK as per the British Hospitality Association travel monitor. It was even analyzed that overseas visitor were splashing less and since spending of consumers have remained resilient, so it is not easy to predict the output (Glencross, 2016). The hotel sectors are also in risk by Brexit as there will be decline in visitors and shortage of the skilled labour which than impact profitability and investor return. There will even be influence in hotels as this sector is majorly dependent on non-UK EU born citizens. The post-Brexit have also major chance to depreciate the value which would increase the imported item’s cost and lead to enhance the costs of production for business and minimize the margins of profit. This situation could even be caused if Britain decide to limit the free movement of the people in European Union as majority of the labors arrives from other EU countries. However, there are various evidences and commentators which presume that there will not be application of any limitations to EU workers post Brexit (Hannan, 2017b). In addition to that, The director of the Association of leading visitor attractions have raised concern that decision of UK to leave European Union will have major effects on the funding for the cultural organization and will not portray positive picture for the potential inbound visitors. Since, there is continuous negotiations in between United Kingdom and European union regarding post-Brexit relationship, there are some critical issues which influence the British Tourism’s future. Since European union countries are very crucial towards their industry both for labor and overseas visitors so Post Brexit environment might have look over relationship to freedom of movement, labor and aviation agreement (Glencross, 2016). Furthermore, it is even reviewed that in the present context, Pre-existing conditions of health in the tourist of Britain who are travelling in other part of European union are provided with European health insurance card. However, the exit of the UK from the European Union and loss of the coverage would make travelers in older age group to pay for travel insurance with chance to sacrifice the coverage of travel insurance due to the costs. It can thus be stated that UK tourism industry is getting affects and will be influenced post Brexit.

Chapter 3: Research Methodology

The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affecting tourism industry in the UK in post Brexit period. To accomplish this, aim successfully, it is critical to select the most suitable research methodology for the researchers. Accordingly, the research methodology involves the logical processes and procedures that the researcher applies to answer the research question and determine solution to the research problem (Kothari, 2004). The subsequent section presents the explanation and rationale for the set of research methodology that has been considered appropriate for this study.

3.1. Research Philosophy

Almost all research studies are driven by certain philosophical views and assumptions about the subject being studied in the research. It is critical for the researcher to clearly identify the philosophical views and assumptions in order to guide the selection of the research method, data collection and analysis tools and techniques. There are two common types of research philosophies that include positivism and interpretivism (Saunders et al., 2009), This research study can be argued to be grounded on the positivism philosophical view. This is because positivist research involves scientific enquiry of the research problem. Moreover, the findings obtained from the positivist research are independent to the researcher thus contributes in greater reliability and validity of the findings (Bryman & Bell, 2015; Saunders et al., 2009).

3.2. Research Method

As far as the research method for this study is concerned, this research study can be termed as quantitative research method. The quantitative research method has been considered ideal for the investigation of the factors affecting tourism industry in the UK in post Brexit period because the quantitative research follows systematic investigation of the research problem (Creswell & Creswell, 2017). In addition, data in the quantitative research are collect using questionnaire and analyzed using statistical tools, which makes the findings obtained from the quantitative research verifiable and replicable. Moreover, quantitative research method is considered as this method is also in line with the chosen positivism philosophical view (Bryman & Bell, 2015). .

3.3. Research Strategy

The research strategy is associated with the decision of the researcher regarding the way the researcher intends to conduct the study to answer the research question. Notably, it has been noted that the research strategy is an umbrella term and thus there is no specific or most suitable research strategy. Hence, different types of the research strategies are applied by different researchers in conducting their research study. In this study, the survey method has been considered as suitable research strategy for answering the research question. This is because several studies in the past on tourism industry have significantly relied on survey method for drawing study findings (Yin, 2009).

3.4. Data Collection Tools

Data in a research study are collected from two sources that include secondary sources and primary sources. This study will involve the use of both primary and secondary sources for collection of relevant data. In this regard, the secondary data are collected from lately published articles, books, journals and reports. The key purpose of collecting secondary data is to develop initial understanding about the subject being studied in the research and then use this knowledge to designs questions for conducting survey. On the other hand, the primary data are collected using online questionnaire (Hox & Boeji, 2005). Accordingly, primary data has been considered as it provides the researcher with updated data which increases the validity of the research inferences. The online questionnaire has been considered as a research instrument for collecting data because it is cost effective and simple (de Leeuw, et al., 2012). Moreover, the outbreak of COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in practicing of social distance. Hence, use of online questionnaire would eliminate travelling to the respondent’s location while minimizing the risk of being infected by the deadly virus.

3.5. Research Sample

To collect primary data using online survey questionnaire, it is important to select sample participants for the study. As noted earlier this study is mainly related with the evaluation of tourism sector in the UK and the factors affecting the industry post Brexit. Thus, in this study 50 respondents comprising the managers, executives, travel agent and employees from the tourism industry has been randomly selected using convenience sampling method.

3.6. Data Analysis Technique

Data analysis is often considered as the most important phase of a research study. It is because the even if the data collected from different sources are accurate and valid but if the researcher fails to analyses these data accurately, it can have severe impact on the research outcome and its validity (Flick, 2009). Correspondingly, in this research study adequate attention has been laid selection of data analysis tools and method. Correspondingly, the data collected using the online survey questionnaire has been analyzed using graphs, charts and tables.

3.7. Ethical Consideration

This research study also lays considerable importance on preserving the high standard of ethics throughout the research study. Accordingly, informed consent from each participant was sought prior to their participation in the online survey questionnaire. In addition, anonymity of the respondents has also been maintained on the request of the respondents. Finally, the secondary data that has been sued in this study were also cited and acknowledged properly using standard guidelines (Novak, 2014).

Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis

4.1.Overview

In this particular section of the research study, focus has been mainly on analyzing the data that has been collected in the process of conducting the research study. This further includes all the information that are attained from the survey questionnaire with the target respondents. In this context, 50 respondents has been considered from the market of UK, which mostly includes managers, executives, travel agent and employees from the tourism industry to understand the impact of Brexit upon the tourism industry at large. The presentation of all the data collected has been presented hereunder.

4.2. Findings from Questionnaire Survey

Demography of the Respondents

In the first part, the respondents were asked questions regarding their demographic information for which diverse range of responses has been gathered. Most notably, the first question of the survey asked the respondents regarding their gender. The findings is presented in the pie hereunder.

In this context, as much as 53% of the respondents are male while the rest of the respondents are female. Hence, a right balance has been formed in this research in terms of both male and female population taken part in the study. In the next question of the survey, the respondents were asked regarding their marital with options of single, married and divorced to choose from. For this the following responses has been gathered.

As per the responses presented in the pie above, it is clear that as much as 60% of the respondents are married. In similar context, around 32% of the respondents claimed that they are single with another 8% of the respondents depicting themselves to be divorced. Therefore, it is apparent that most of the respondents taken part in this research are married. In the next question of the survey, the respondents were about their annual income. Since a specific option cannot be anticipated and put in terms of the annual income, the research questionnaire has made use of different income range. The following responses has been gathered in this context.

As per the graph above, it is clear that around 21% of the respondents have an income in between the range of less than £20000. In similar context, a maximum of 42% of the respondents has claimed their income level in the range of £40001 to £60000. Around 19% of the respondents claimed their income level to be in between £20001 to £40000. Hence, it is apparent that most of the respondents taken part in this study has a mid-range income level. In the next question of the survey, the respondents were enquired regarding their job and profession with diverse range of options to choose from. The following responses has been accumulated and presented graphically hereunder.

As per the pie above, it is clear that 52% of the respondents are first time visitors to the UK with another 48% claiming themselves to be repeat visitors in this part of the world. Hence, it can be said that there is balance in terms of the frequency of visit among the respondents taken part in this research study.

Factors of Tourism

In the next question of the survey the respondents were asked about their reasons for visiting this part of the world further providing them with two options to choose from. In this context, the following responses has been acquired.

It is apparent from the graph above that most of the respondents visits the country for the purpose of leisure and fun while some visit the nation for business or job relates purposes. This can be justified from the fact that 58% of the respondents visit the nation for leisure while 42% visit the same for business purposes. In the next question of the survey, the respondents were asked about some of the key reasons that motivates them to choose the UK to visit. From the various options given to the respondents in this context, the following responses has been gathered.

As per the graph provide above, it is clear that 35% of the respondents visit the country for rest or recreational purposes, which was also apparent from the responses in the previous question as well. People prefer UK for all the fun and leisure part that the company has to offer for the visitors. Again, 12% of the respondents has claimed their reason of visiting the UK to be for business trips with another 102% in similar context depicting treatment to be their reason for visiting the UK. 11% of the respondents also claimed their reason for visiting the country to be culture and region which is quite a unique choice considering the fact that UK is not popular for religious gatherings. Hence, it is apparent that rest or recreation is the main motive for people to visit in this part of the world. In the next question of the survey, the respondents were asked regarding the leisure activities they perform while their visit in the UK. For this, the respondents were provided with multiple options to choose from which are anticipated from the research conducted during the literature research. The responses has been presented graphically hereunder.

As per the response gathered above, it is clear that most of the people who visit this part of the world for leisure activities find making trips to the city most enjoyable, which has further been confirmed by around 21% of the people. As much as 18% of the people find the diverse cuisines of the UK to be the most attractive part with another 20% prefer shopping as the most done part in their leisure activities in the UK. Apart from that, 16%, 15% and 10% of the people entertainment, sports, and beauty treatment to be their most preferred leisure option in the UK. Hence, it is apparent that the choices of the people are quite diversified in this context. In the next question of the survey, the respondents were asked to rank the different tourist attraction in the UK that they prefer to visit. The choice given has been gathered from internet search with regard to the most visited places by tourists in the UK. The following graph depicts the responses of the surveyed people.

As per the opinion gathered in terms of art as the attraction that influence tourism destination choices of the people, most of the respondents (32%) remained neutral. Around 18% respondents claimed it to be highly influential with another 16% depicting it to be only influential. In terms of entertainment as a factor of influence in tourism destination choice as the UK, 36% said it to be highly influential with another 21% depicting it to be influential. However, a considerable 21% of the respondents does find entertainment to be a reason for selecting UK as their preferred choice. Again, when the respondents were asked about the importance of cultural heritage of UK as a reason for their selection of this destination, around 40% mention it to be highly influential while 22% find it to be influential. 8% of the people tend to remain neutral in this context. When the respondents were asked regarding the importance of festival and other events in their decision making, around 51% said it to be an influential one in terms of their travel decision making while 10% said it is influential. 22% of the people however said it is not influential for them in their travel decision making to the UK. With regard to environment of the UK as a factor for travel to this part of the world, mixed responses has been gathered with maximum of them i.e. 30% depicting it be an influential reason to an extent. In terms of cuisine, 22% said it is highlight influential while another 8% believes it to be just influential. However, it is interesting to note that 30% of the people were confused in this option and then to remain neutral with their responses. In terms of lifestyle, 25% of the people said it to be influential with another 15% depicting it to be the reversed. However, 21% of the respondents find it to be a least influential reason altogether.

In terms of natural factor, as much as 32% of the respondents depicted it to be the least influential reason in setting their choice for visiting a particular country. Again, 18% said it to be influential while 15% find it to be highly influential. In terms of the cultural factor, 50% of the respondents find it to be the most influential in their choices or decision for tourism to a country. This further shows how culture is an important element in making choice of travel or tourism. For recreation and shopping facilities of the host country, 52% find it to be a highly influential factor with another 16% finding it to be just influential in their travel decision making. When asked about the influence of accessibility in their travel decision making, 41% remained neutral and showed their responses in this context. However, 18% of the people find it to be highly influential in their overall decision making. Hence, no apparent opinion can be gathered in this regard. In terms of infrastructure, maximum number of people does not find it to be any influence on their travel decision making. To be precise, 42% does not find it to influential in their travel decisions making, which further shows the clarity of the opinion of the respondents altogether. With regard to cost, it has been noted from the respondents that this one of the most critical factors that impacts their destination choice. In this context, 74% of the respondents depicted it to be a highly influential factor while 11% find it to be just influential in their travel decision making. In terms of safety and security, it is noted that 41% of the respondents said it to be a highly influential factor for them while searching for a travel destination. This is a general perception among people, and it cannot be questioned. In terms of hospitality services of the host country, it is noted that 31% of the people find it to be very influential while another 13% presents it to be highly influential. 20% of the people find this to be a no influential element altogether.

Impact of Brexit

In the next question of the survey, the respondents were asked regarding the impact of Brexit according to them. For this, the following responses has been gathered.

As per the responses above, it is clear that according to the respondents, there are diverse impact of Brexit upon the tourism industry of the UK. With regard to the direct impact on the travelers, 26% believes that roaming fees are very positive post Brexit while 32% remained neutral and confused in this context. In terms of visa restrictions, 21% believes it to be very positive with another 19% believing it to be positive only. However, 21% of the people thinks Brexit had a negative impact on visa restrictions. In terms of the rights of passengers, it is noted that 32% and 18% of the respondents find it to be very positive and positive, respectively. However, it is to be noted that 22% here find Brexit to have a negative impact upon the rights of the passengers. In terms of package travel and direction, 21% find it very positive with another 15% findings it just positive. However, 32% of the respondents showed their confusion in this regard. In terms of the impact of Brexit upon the overall tourism industry, 18% find very positive influence upon the service quality of the companies while 21% find it to be positive. Again, in terms of skills shortage, 32% and 25% find it to be positive and very positive respectively. In terms of the impact on the business sector, 19% depicted unstable currency value to be very positive while 27% find it to be very negative. Hence, diverse opinion has been gathered in this context.

Contextually, as per the pie above, 32% are satisfied with their visit to the UK with another 16% depicted themselves to be highly satisfied with their visit to the UK. 22% of the people are dissatisfied with their visit as well, which could not be ignored, when considering the overall experiences of the people involved. In the next question, the respondents were asked about their likeliness of visiting the country again i.e. UK. It is in this context depicts that 32% of the people are likely to visit the country again with another 12% are very likely to come again in the UK for tourism or business travel. The results are hereunder.

In the next question, the respondents were asked whether they would be recommending others to visit the UK in the future post their experience of visiting the country. In this regard, 46% of the respondents said that they would highly agree on this and will surely recommend more people they know to visit this part of the world for travel and tourism.

4.3. Discussion

4.3.1. Factors influencing the UK’s tourism industry

It had been analyzed from the literature review and findings that tourism industry possesses greater impact upon the economy and popularity of the country. Each of the countries are upgrading their tourists spot to attain attention from the customers. promotion and advertisement need to be considered to develop the tourism around the country. However, it had been analyzed from literature review that there are certain factors which affects the tourism industry that includes political instability, economy, natural disaster, and weather conditions which negatively hampers the tourism industry. It had further been analyzed from findings that cultural factors, infrastructure, accessibility, recreational and shopping facilities, and costs have its impact upon the selection of the tourism destination. After reviewing both the data, it had been analyzed that if the tourism spot is not well effective and does not possess appropriate facilities than tourists does not prefers to select the spot. It is thus extremely difficult for the tourist industry to sustain in highly competitive environment wherein the chances of issues are also higher.

4.3.2. Factors affecting tourism industry in the UK post Brexit

Tourism industry is one of the effective sources of income which enhance the financial growth of the Country and these industries is fourth largest industry in the UK. The UK’s Brexit have brought about higher change in every sector wherein capital investment in the tourism industry is found to have negative impact as investor would not feel safe to invest its money on uncertain market environment. In addition to that, it had further been analyzed that free movement of people would also lead to decline in the tourists. Since, UK have larger number of EU tourists visiting UK but after the Brexit, larger number of EU citizen will not be permitted to visit UK which will thus affect these industries. Moreover, it had been analyzed that there used to be higher number of people who use to visit UK for commercial purpose. However, the Brexit movement have brought uncertainty in policies which have restricted the business travels to visit UK. It had further analyzed from the study that there is increasing trend of staycation which have also affected the UK’s tourism industry as larger number of people have started to invest in local hotels than visiting national hotels. Findings have also analyzed that after Brexit, the quality of services have declined and there is skill shortage which have led into negative impact upon the operation of tourism industry. Moreover, travelers are also affected as there have been increasing in the roaming fees, change in the passenger’s rights and restriction in visa. All the issues have made it difficult for the travelers to enter the UK. Moreover, the tourism business has also been affected after Brexit as the business have become uncertain due to change in policies and there is instability in the value of currency which leads to issues. It can thus be stated after reviewing both literature review and findings that Brexit have affected the whole tourism industry that includes travelers, tourism, and business.

4.3.3. Influence of UK post Brexit on tourism industry

It had been analyzed that exit of British have brought major impact upon majority of sectors wherein tourism industry has also got influenced due to change in policies and regulations associated with these industries. The Brexit have minimized the outbound travel as it has influenced the sterling values and have also declined the volume of tourists due to politically instability. It had further been analyzed that since majority of the workers were EU boundaries in UK so post Brexit movement would minimize the number of skilled people which will further influence the profitability and investors return. In addition to that, post-Brexit have also depreciated the value which have further increase the costs of the imported products. This could increase the production costs and decline the profit margin. Moreover, the lack of funds which UK use to attain from European Union have also declined and have resulted into decline in visitors. It can thus be stated after reviewing the literature review and findings that post-Brexit, number of changes will take place in policies, regulations, and taxes. Such major changes will disturb the whole system of tourism industry. Moreover, in the previous context, European union use to provide with European health insurance card but post-Brexit, the exit of the UK from European Union has made the older age travelers to stop travelling because of insecurity. It can thus be stated after reviewing the whole study that UK tourism industry have been affected post Brexit. However, if political stability is attained in UK and flexible regulations are adopted by the UK government than it can easily enhance its tourism industry.

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Conclusion

The purpose of the study is to analyze the factor affecting tourism in the UK post Brexit. It had been analyzed that tourism offers larger number of benefits to the country which includes both economic and social benefits. This industry enhances the cultural opportunities and enhance happiness, education, and well-being in the country. However, there are various factors that affects the tourism industry in a greater extends. People visit tourists’ places to attain happiness and get detached from their sorrow prevailing in their life. However, if the tourist spot itself possess instability like strikes, wars, and disturbance than tourists will never prefer to visit those places. They will feel unsafe and insecure. There are number of factors that change the perception of the tourists that includes political instability, economic instability, natural disaster, and higher rates of tourist’s places. Taking UK’s case into consideration, it could be stated that the instability caused due to exit of British have brought about drastic change in the whole system of the country. After the UK have exited from the European union, every rules and regulations have changed and have led to difficulties for the tourism industries to sustain in the changed environment. The higher rates of roaming fees change in passengers’ rights, restrictions in visa along with uncertainty in business have impacted all tourist business and tourism sectors. The increased uncertainty in the country have made it difficult for the tourism industry to flourish and attain profitability in the UK. There is greater need for the UK to make certain change to increase the tourism business.

5.2 Recommendation

It is recommended that to overcome the issues associated with Brexit and increase the benefits of tourism industry, tourism industry should make its collaboration with UK government. The government of UK should eliminate the tax and ensure that no tax is applied on food and accommodation. The government should implore funds from the private enterprises so that they can eradicate of reduce the tax rates. Moreover, the amount of money which are asked from tourists when they apply for the tourist visa should be declined to attain competitive advantage from other countries. The Government of UK should also possess national travel and tourism strategy to decline the fees of visa, problems associated with image and control the border problems. It can help in increasing the tourism and tourist would feel safe and better to stay longer. The tourism industry should increase the local and international sales teams and make the usage of business government strategy to make this industry accountable. If proper government rules and regulation will be built and applied than there is be decline in bribery and corruption in these industries. The government along with the tourism industry should also give major emphasis on the quality and price wherein these industries should give premium services in affordable price to attract larger number of people. It is also recommended that tourism industry should make a higher level of coordination and cooperation to apply the resources effectively. Innovative technology and proper political stability should also be maintained in the country so that tourist does not face issue and feel secure while visiting the UK’s tourist places. Moreover, UK government should also keep on increasing the cultural festivals in the country so that larger number of tourists visits the country to attend the programs. Lastly, it is also essential for the tourism industry to enhance its hospitality services to attract the attention of the customers. Moreover, these industries should also appoint skilled professionals so that tourism industries attain greater profitability.

References

Creswell, J. W. & Creswell, J. D., 2017. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

de Leeuw, E. D. et al., 2012. International Handbook of Survey Methodology, London: Routledge.

Footman, K & et. al., 2015. Dialysis services for tourists to the Veneto Region: a qualitative study. Journal on Rental Care, Vol. No. 41, No. 2-5, pp. 19–27.

Glencross, A., 2016. Why the UK Voted for Brexit. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Hannan, D., 2017. What Next: How to Get the Best from Brexit. London: Head of Zeus.

Hox, J.J. & Boeije, H.R., 2005. Data collection, primary versus secondary. Encyclopedia of social measurement, 593 – 599.

Janson, K., 2017. Four policies for post-Brexit tourism. Tourism, Vol. No. 22, No. 3, pp. 4–5.

Kothari, C. R., 2004. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. New Delhi: New Age International.

Novak, A., 2014. Anonymity, Confidentiality, Privacy, and Identity: The Ties That Bind and Break in Communication Research. Review of Communication, 14(1), 36-48.

Novak, A., 2014. Anonymity, Confidentiality, Privacy, and Identity: The Ties That Bind and Break in Communication Research. Review of Communication, 14(1), 36-48.

Novak, A., 2014. Anonymity, Confidentiality, Privacy, and Identity: The Ties That Bind and Break in Communication Research. Review of Communication, 14(1), 36-48.

Saunders, M. et al., 2009. Research Methods for Business Students. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Sima, C., 2017. Brexit impacts on tourism. International Conference on “Knowledge Economy – Challenges of the 21st Century”, pp. 1-9.

Yin, R.K., 2009. Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.