Post-Brexit visa rules hurting London tourism industry, Sadiq Khan warns
Post-Brexit visa restrictions are damaging London’s tourism industry, Sadiq Khan will warn today.
The mayor is set to call on the government to ease travel rules around European school children, language students and hospitality, construction and retail workers.
City Hall research suggests prior to leaving the EU, more than 1.5m children visited the UK each year, with groups able to travel on their European Economic Area (EEA) identity cards.
But since October 2021, all children entering the UK must have passports (something which is less common in EU states), while non-EU citizens need a £95 visa.
Tour operators told City Hall that school groups are now choosing other English-speaking destinations such as Ireland or Malta, while language schools have reported a “seismic drops in trade”.
Khan will urge ministers to create a new youth travel scheme to open up London to young people from around the world at an event with business leaders this evening.
“Our post-Brexit future does not have to mean isolation and restrictive policies that only damage our economy and opportunities for growth,” Khan will say.
He is will outline his demands in more detail at the opening of a new office in the City for the French architecture firm Patriarche, which is expected to invest over €100m in London over the coming years.
“As an international company with a new presence in London, we are encouraged by the mayor’s call to ease post-Brexit visa issues,” chief executive Damien Patriarche said in a statement ahead of the event.
“We request government not only supports the easing of travel restrictions but facilitates better access to a global workforce that would clearly benefit the London and UK economy.
“Our recent commitment to London is predicated upon the long-term strength of its economic ties between the continent and the capital,” he added.
Khan will also urge the government to expand the youth mobility scheme in order to support the hospitality and catering industries with post-Brexit labour shortages. It comes after the government’s migration advisory committee backed expanding the scheme last month.
And he will launch a new tourism campaign this summer to encourage French and German visitors to return to the capital.
“London and the rest of the country have so much to offer. We should be encouraging tourists, not putting up unnecessary barriers,” Tourism Alliance director Richard Toomer said in a statement ahead of the speech.
Neil Garratt, City Hall Conservatives economy spokesperson, said: “You can always tell when Sadiq Khan is having a bad news day: he starts talking about Brexit.
“The fact is he is failing London by every possible metric and the longer he is Mayor, the worse he gets.
“Today’s YouGov poll shows half of Londoners are unhappy with the job he’s doing. Like most Londoners, I wish he would stick to the day job and deliver for London.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.