27
Sector Focus
system.
“A reduction in the proposed
salary threshold from £30,000 to
£25,600 (and from £20,800 to
£17,920 for new entrants), while
welcome, will not solve the skills
shortage issue in an industry where
the average full-time wage is
£23,000; and the rejection of the
inclusion of part time workers
(whose average salary is £17,000
and on which the industry relies to a
significant extent) will also be
detrimental.”
last three years have proved difficult
with regards to filling tourism
positions. It was noted that there
remains confusion around
employment laws for EU nationals
after December 2020, when the UK
government hopes to have secured
a trade deal. One of the
fundamental challenges this poses
is a lack of language skills, and Croft
shared concerns that the
government’s plans to introduce an
Australian-style points system for
immigration overlooks this vital
element.
He raised the issue that there is
“no mention of foreign language
skills being included in a future
points-based system.”
He highlighted that the inbound
tourism industry contributed
“£23bn to the UK economy last year
[2019] and UK-based tour operators
and other parts of the industry rely
heavily on their non-UK employees
to conduct negotiations in foreign
languages and liaise with our
international visitors; our
competitors offer world class
service and so should we.”
Croft said: “Our members simply
cannot find enough British nationals
with language skills in the UK and
any solution through additional
language education for UK nationals
may come too late for some
businesses.”
The Migration Advisory
Committee's (MAC) report on the
UK's immigration system, which was
published 28 January, states that if
the government wants to use the
Australian points-based system, it
should only introduce the system for
skilled workers without job offers. It
recommended that workers with job
offers should be allowed into the
country if their salary is above
£25,600. This would ensure
teachers, NHS employees and
individuals starting their careers will
qualify.
The report suggests that there
should be higher thresholds in place
for those who earn more financially.
Croft concluded: “Designing a
future immigration system for the
UK is a complex task and while
there are several recommendations
in the MAC report that we welcome,
it is clear that there remain
considerable challenges for the UK
tourism industry (which currently
employs substantive numbers of
EU nationals), and it will have to
adjust significantly under a new
Above: JossCroft,
CEO, UKinbound
Below: Patricia Yates,
director of
communications,
VisitBritain
Photos by Patrick
Balls
www.conference-news.co.uk
Brexit effect
The UK’s reputation as a
destination with EU nations has
suffered since it decided to
leave the bloc, says Patricia
Yates, director of
communications for VisitBritain.
Addressing the UKinbound
membership, Yately reassured
those in the tourism sector that
VisitBritain was working hard to
promote the UK, with a new
campaign due to launch later in
2020, and that the Tourism
Sector Deal by Theresa May’s
government was a welcome fillip.
Yates says there is still an
appetite for the UK across
Europe and provided an
anecdote that European
travellers visit the UK for its
history and natural beauty as
opposed to its politics.