The trade body said it was due to the UK government scrapping the list of travellers’ scheme in October 2021, which allowed students in school groups to travel without a passport.
“School groups stay in regional locations, spreading spend throughout the UK,” said European Tourism Association chief executive Tom Jenkins. “The shortfall in 2023 has cost about £400 million in export earnings; money which is desperately needed in depressed areas.”
Jenkins’ words were echoed by UKInbound boss Joss Croft, who said the policy has “drastically reduced” revenues for many tourism and hospitality businesses.
“Naturally, these groups are going instead to other English speaking countries in the EU such as Ireland or Malta and so of course the revenue from this valuable segment of the market has drastically reduced for many tourism and hospitality businesses in the UK,” Croft added.
The UKInbound chief executive has also called on the government to “transform into action” its commitment to change the documentary requirement for school trips to France announced earlier this year.
“It is vital that any solution – such as a new collective passport for such groups – is scalable so that kids from all across Europe can come and experience everything that the UK has to offer,” added Tourism Alliance executive director Richard Toomer.
The comments come as data published by the trade body on Monday (19 June) shows that the UK’s recovery of its school group travel market is at 61% of 2019 levels, compared to a 108% growth in the EU.
