While I was with friends in the pub on Friday night, trying to absorb the events of the morning, I over-heard some lads discussing their holiday to Ibiza in August.
“Does Brexit mean we all have to get new passports by then?” asked one, while another pondered, “they might let us fly out of the UK, but will they let us back in?”
The fact I was invited on four different BBC radio programmes within the space of 24 hours on Tuesday to talk about panicked applications for Irish passports was another hint at the level of hysteria and confusion leaving the European Union has created.
With the stock market slumping, the pound at a 31-year low, property prices predicted to fall, no clue who’ll be prime minister come autumn, and the opposition party falling to pieces, it’s no wonder there’s so much despondency about the wider impact of Brexit.
There are many questions from a travel industry perspective too, not least if and how we’ll replace EU initiatives such as the Package Travel Directive and flight delay compensation. But with little set to change for two years at least, it’s the impact of uncertainty on consumer confidence that will do the most damage to the holidays market in the short term.
Whatever the media storm going on in other arenas, and however you voted last Thursday, perhaps the travel industry can make its own contribution to steadying the ship during this sea of uncertainty by reassuring customers to keep calm and carry on holidaying. We’ve got the answers to any questions your customers might have in the pages of our most recent edition.
TTG Travel Awards finalists revealed!
The UK leaving Europe and England’s spectacular fail in the Euros have given you cause either to celebrate or commiserate, depending which side you’re on. But we hope to bring certain joy to the 156 travel companies and individuals who’ve made the shortlists for the TTG Travel Awards 2016.
Find the full shortlist at ttgtravelawards.com.
Pippa Jacks
Editor, TTG
