Scottish tour firms prepare for trip into unknown
It would be difficult to imagine a group more on the frontline of Scottish tourism than the tour bus operators. They are literally selling Scotland every day and, while perhaps currently enjoying a boost from a weaker pound, also have real concerns. Here we speak to two of them: Steve Spalding, chief executive, Timberbush Tours “Clearly, Brexit has had an impact on currency which, consequently, has made Scotland a more attractive destination for both the overseas and domestic tourism markets.
Moreover, we have welcomed growing numbers of tourists over the past few years, which in part, is due to currency but also thanks to standard bearers such as Visit Scotland doing a great job of marketing us abroad. Simultaneously, Scotland has also become much better connected to the rest of the world with new direct air routes to the US, Middle East and soon from China. Brexit shouldn’t take all the glory. As an industry, tourism has been working very hard.
We have, however, seen one or two downsides. An immediate and very tangible adverse impact for Timberbush Tours has been when buying vehicles from abroad. Another albeit less tangible at this point but nonetheless present, is the impact to our employees.
As a market leading coach tour company we are proud to operate a high spec, modern, environmentally efficient fleet, all less than three years old.
Typically, we buy these vehicles via UK agents from manufacturers based abroad and have noted significant increases in the cost of acquisition as well as ongoing maintenance which are blamed on exchange rates. Looking ahead to post Brexit, the dilemma we face is the uncertainty of market conditions affecting confidence to make large medium to long term capital investments.
The employee aspect I mention relates to migration and availability of people. As well as our home-grown talent pool, we are very fortunate to have a great mix from across Europe including French, German, Italian and Polish which makes for a great blend with the ability to better understand our overseas customers’ needs. Clearly any restriction to migration post-brexit could have an impact on our ability to recruit and retain suitable talent and what a great pity that will be.”
0 Steve Spalding, of Timberbush Tours, is concerned restrictions to migration may have an impact on recruiting and retaining workers Robin Worsnop, chief executive, Rabbie’s Tours “We have seen a marginal rise in the number of tourists visiting Edinburgh and wider Scotland over the past couple of years, the currency has made it much more competitive to come here. But what we are seeing is a strong growth in emerging markets, we are welcoming more visitors than ever before from the likes of the United States, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.
I think part of the issue with continuing to attract visitors fromeuropeduringthiswhole process has been ensuring the perception of Scotland as one of the most welcoming countries to visit has not changed.
There is perhaps a sentiment at the moment that tourists, visitors to the UK may not be quite as welcome as they once were and if controls on the ease of movement such as visas are put in place for those hoping to come to Scotland, that will make that little bit more difficult to visit here. It may put some people off.
“One area of concern for us is potentially losing employees who possess secondary language skills. We don’t know whether they will to be able to stay in the country after Brexit goes through, we don’t know what the situation is likely to be regarding visas, work permits, because there is so much uncertainty, there is no way of knowing what the future holds.”
For Scottish hospitality businesses, the UK’S vote to leave the European Union has caused profound uncertainty and disquiet. From doubts over the availability of staff to potential reductions in visitor numbers, Ukhospitality members rank Brexit amongst their most pressing concerns for the future.
Ukhospitality strongly encourages the UK government to adopt a commonsense immigration policy that guarantees current staffing levels, does not put barriers in the way of important European leisure and business travel markets by requiring visitors to hold visas or apply for electronic travel documents and does not needlessly jeopardise the strength of the Scottish visitor economy.
Along with other industries, hospitality needs to ensure an unhindered ability to import necessary food and beverage supplies, equipment and spare parts without the imposition of customs barriers and tariffs.
A messy departure from the European Union could, though, hamper the Scottish hospitality industry’s contribution to the Scottish economy. Moreover, for every £1 spent in hospitality and tourism, a further 50p is spent elsewhere in the local economy. If the hospitality and tourism industry were weakened by Brexit, repercussions would be felt in the wider economy, with less money spent in shops, on visitor attractions and on transport.
Our valued team members from the EU have been crucial to the success of the industry and to the prosperity of Scotland. Research by KPMG for Ukhospitality shows that the hospitality industry is the largest business sector employer of EU nationals as a proportion of total workforce. EU migrants are essential to the prosperity of our industry and the wider economy. They found that although 5.3 per cent of the total Scottish workforce are EU nationals, 13.8 per cent of the Scottish hospitality industry’s workforce are from the EU, showing the industry is highly reliant on European workers.
Any sudden, material change in immigration policy after Brexit would, have a debilitating effect on the hospitality sector hampering investment and prospects for growth in our important tourism industry.
It is imperative, then, that the government negotiates a deal with the European Union that does not inhibit the flow of labour from Europe. Whilst Ukhospitality recognises its responsibility in training up more British workers this will not happen overnight and we need concerted support from government to make the UK’S departure from the EU as smooth as possible. We will continue to fight on behalf of our Scottish members so that the UK’S exit from the EU has as little negative impact as possible. Willie Macleod is executive director, Scotland, UK Hospitality