A Tourism Alliance report said that although the government had lifted travel measures for Covid, ministers had imposed unnecessary restrictions on children from France, Germany and other EU countries. This has led to a collapse in school bookings and an estimated 80% drop in revenue across the industry this year, threatening 40,000 jobs, the Tourism Alliance said. By 2021, more than 1.5 million children were coming to the UK each year to learn English or on organized school trips, accounting for about 11% of total annual tourism revenue. Prior to Brexit, groups of children could travel using ID cards under the List of Travelers program. Now, every child must have a passport and children with non-EU passports – including refugees – also need a λι 95 visa. Schools choose to travel to Ireland or Malta for English-language travel or not travel at all. Kurt Janson, director of the Tourism Alliance, said the passport requirement had “a devastating impact on a large number of small businesses and local communities”. “The collapse of the school group market is unnecessary, as students pose no risk to safety, will not disappear into the black economy and start driving minibuses, and parents who let their children go on school trips are generally very eager for their teachers to bring them home. “This is an obvious situation where the government has to put aside its doctrine of passports and work with industry to find a practical solution.” Many language schools are concentrated in seaside towns on the south coast of England. In Hastings, the council says only seven of the 20 language schools and tour operators have been confirmed to be operational. One is Senlac Tours, which usually brings about 15,000 children, mostly from Berlin, to Hastings each year. They live with local families, learn English and visit British cultural destinations. “We have not had a team since March 2020,” said Nicole Taggeb, executive director. Many employees have been fired. “If it were not for our boss, who was putting money aside, selling her house, selling her office and thus supporting the company, we might not have survived,” he said. “It simply came to our notice then. “First we had Brexit, then Covid and now the war in Ukraine – it’s another nail in the coffin.” The first group of the company after Covid is going to arrive from Germany by bus this month. Covid restrictions in European countries make things more complicated, but the passport requirement has delayed many parents. “It costs about 450 euros per child,” Taggeb said. “Now it would be another 100 euros.” Many do not even think about traveling anymore – not all Germans have passports and about 15% of students in Germany are nationals of other countries. About 22% of jobs in the city – 7,030 – are supported by tourism, according to Hastings City Council. “We believe foreign language schools are worth £ 35 million for the local economy,” said Kevin Boorman, the council’s director of marketing. “People elsewhere do not understand that Hastings is the most deprived city in the south east of England. The loss of students has an impact on the whole city. We know that Hastings is improving and the tourism industry is providing jobs at an initial level. “The loss of foreign language students is a huge blow to every generation.” Huan Japes, Managing Director of English UK, the business language learner, said 15% of members were permanently closed. “There is another 15% who are not sure if they will see the year,” he said. “We could see a 30% loss across the country.”
