UNCERTAINTY has gripped Ireland’s travel and tourism industry in the wake of the EU referendum in Britain.
As with other sectors of commerce and business the full implications are far from clear.
Tourism is a vital industry for the island of Ireland, the three main markets being Britain (approximately 42 per cent of visitors), North America (17 per cent) and continental Europe 35 per cent.
Brexit is unlikely to affect either the North American or mainland European markets.
As Brexit progresses, it is the British market which could be affected. To what degree is, so far, impossible to estimate.
This uncertainty will pertain until the terms of Britain's exit from the EU are clear.
Harder borders are likely at all British airports and ports, but in reality this will not change travel to and from the Irish Republic to Britain.
Both countries are part of the Common Travel Area which allows undocumented, unrestricted travel between Ireland and Britain.
This agreement, independent of the EU, was ratified in 2011 and so will remain unchanged. In reality, with most air and sea carriers requiring passengers to produce passports to prove identity, almost all travellers between the two countries carry ID — but it is not a legal requirement and is likely to remain unchanged.
Brexit is most likely to have an effect on visitor numbers between Britain and Ireland if the value of the pound continues to fall.
Should volatility in the market continue and the value of the pound remains low, all foreign travel from Britain will be more expensive.
General guidelines to tourism and travel in Ireland are, of course, complicated because of the existence two jurisdictions — the North and the Republic.
To date, no proposals have been put forward regarding the international border, and whether passport and customs controls will return.
The two jurisdictions are marketed as a single entity by Tourism Ireland who have emphasised that it was established as ‘an area of co-operation’ under the framework of the 1998 Belfast Agreement.
It is thus independent of any Brexit ramifications.
