Warning of risks to tourism on island of Ireland from new UK travel scheme

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A new UK travel documentation scheme that begins this week risks disrupting tourism on the island of Ireland, affecting 1mn visitors a year, politicians and tourism officials have warned.

In a report published on Tuesday, legislators from the UK and the Republic of Ireland urged the British government to pause the scheme, at least for visitors staying less than a week.

The British-Irish parliamentary assembly’s sovereign affairs committee said the electronic travel authorisation scheme would be “unworkable” and threatened to become a “barrier to entry for Northern Ireland’s 1mn tourists coming from abroad each year, 70% of whom arrive in [the Republic of] Ireland first”.

Separately, Micheál Martin, Ireland’s foreign minister, described the decision to introduce the ETA scheme, which London sees as a way to tighten border security, as “not positive”.

The UK government has previously refused to grant visitors to Northern Ireland an exemption because London and Dublin have a longstanding “Common Travel Area” deal in place that allows free movement of people between the two countries.

In a statement on Tuesday, the government in London again rejected calls for a waiver, saying it would “undermine our efforts to strengthen the security of the UK border and keep people safe”.

Tourism officials fear the requirement to apply for the UK’s ETA, which costs £10, will deter visitors from travelling across the once militarised border on the island that has become invisible in the quarter century since Northern Ireland’s three-decades-long conflict ended.

The British-Irish committee said it was “unclear” how the scheme would be enforced but London had given assurances there would be no checks on the land border.

“We believe the requirement for . . . visitors from mainland Europe, North America and emerging tourism markets to apply for pre-clearance to visit Northern Ireland has the potential to be very damaging to tourism to the island of Ireland,” said a spokesperson for Tourism Ireland, which is responsible for marketing the whole island overseas.

Officials are particularly concerned that the scheme would hit coach groups and US-organised tours to sites across the island as well as the large number of tourists who take day trips from the Republic into Northern Ireland.

John McGrillen, chief executive of Tourism NI, slammed the “additional layer of bureaucracy and complexity”, saying it was “vitally important” that the ETA requirement did not become a barrier to growth of tourism.

Overseas visitors generate £600mn in revenues for Northern Ireland and €5.2bn for the Republic.

British and Irish nationals, as well as those with permission to live, work or study in the UK or holding a visa to enter the UK will not need an ETA. The UK has also exempted other nationals who are resident in the Republic of Ireland.

The scheme is being phased in over the coming months. Qatari nationals are the first to require an ETA from mid-November with applications opening on Wednesday.