ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY
London, UK - 1 February 2019
1. Wide of visitors getting travel advice at stand in front of sign, reading (English): "This is how to holiday"
2. Close of word "Holiday"
3. Wide of Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show at London's Olympia exhibition centre
4. Close of sign, reading "Europe"
5. Various of Wild Frontiers stand
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Pullman, Marketing Manager, Wild Frontiers:
"Well, from our perspective, the travel industry has proven quite resilient. We've had a really good January just passed and our stand has been really busy today with people wanting to get holiday ideas. We did see initial drop off just after the Brexit referendum result, that was largely due to currency issues, so the pound obviously lost ten percent of its value. As a result, we had to put a lot of our prices up because we price our tours in dollars in a lot of our destinations. So, we saw a bit of a drop off then. But surprisingly, despite all the current chaos, we're seeing people are very interested in travelling to far off places from Uzbekistan to Iran and further afield."
7. Wide of world map at Wild Frontiers stand
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Michael Pullman, Marketing Manager, Wild Frontiers:
"Yes well, I'm not sure whether it's related to the current Brexit issue, but we certainly are seeing areas outside Europe growing in popularity from the Silk Road in the Middle East to Latin America as well. Quite why people are shifting their focus away from Europe and into these areas I'm not quite sure whether it's related or whether it's just (a) trend."
9. Wide of sign, reading (English): "Holidays packed full of experience"
10. Various of Cyprus stand
11. Various of Kirker Holidays stand
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ted Wake, Managing Director, Kirker Holidays:
"People have seen political changes over the course of time and people will still want to go on a decent holiday to Italy, France, Spain, Morocco, Russia and whatever the challenges are in the short term, they won't compromise their ambitions to have a well-tailored, carefully-planned holiday that involves exactly the right elements that they enjoy on their holidays, whether it's wine tasting, visiting a great museum, having a walking tour in a city. They're not going to forego that because of some short-term anxiety."
13. Wide of stand for holidays to the Balkans
14. Mid of stand for holidays to Europe
15. Mid of Sunvil Holiday stand, Noel Josephides, Chairman of ABTA, in background
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Noel Josephides, Chairman, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA):
"What the EU has said is that you need at least six months on your passport. Technically, if in fact the passport you're holding now was issued prior to its expiry, you have to add on those months onto the six months period. So, you may find yourself having to need ten months, nine months, fifteen months. So, you have to make sure exactly where you stand by going onto the government website, putting in the details of your passport, and then literally you will be told when you have to renew."
17. Wide of Josephides speaking to show visitor
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Noel Josephides, Chairman, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA):
"You need to have your pet microchipped as before, so that's nothing new. But then you must visit your vet four months before you travel. You would then need a vaccination against rabies and once you've had the results of that blood test, which usually takes several weeks after the blood test, you then have to wait three months before you can travel."
19. Various of Flight Centre stand
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Noel Josephides, Chairman, Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA):
"Maybe initially, the first few days we'll see difficulties, but after that people will just adjust and the countries will adjust because the last thing they want to do is to put people off going."
21. Various of Guernsey stand
22. Various of Isle of Man stand
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Ranald Caldwell, Chairman, Isle of Man Visit Agency:
"The one certainty we can rely on is that more and more people in the UK are staying at home for a holiday. With Wonga indicating that 93 percent of people in the UK are staying at home for at least one week's holiday a year and that accounts for 13 billion pounds staying within the UK and wider island economy, so as far as we're concerned, we are looking to see a further growth in numbers with people staying at home because of safety and security reasons, but also exchange rate reasons."
24. Various of Airstream mobile home vehicle
25. Mid of sign, reading (English): "Destinations: the holiday and travel show"
26. Tilt up of palm tree
LEADIN:
Britons hoping to holiday in Europe this summer are being warned that if the UK crashes out of the EU without a deal, they may need up to 15 months left on their passport before it expires to enable them to travel.
The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA) also says pet owners would find it much harder to obtain a pet passport.
As the winter months drag on, many in the UK are dreaming of - and booking up - their next holiday getaway.
Here at London's Olympia, thousands have gathered for some travel inspiration at Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show. It's the UK's largest and longest running travel event.
But this year, with just under eight weeks to go until the UK is due to leave the EU, uncertainty hangs over when, where and whether to travel.
Michael Pullman is marketing manager for Wild Frontiers, an award-winning company that offers adventure holidays.
He says his company has had a strong start to the year in terms of UK holidaymakers making bookings.
"From our perspective the travel industry has proven quite resilient. We've had a really good January just passed and our stand has been really busy today with people wanting to get holiday ideas."
But there was a decline after June 2016, when the referendum result was initially announced.
"We did see initial drop off just after the Brexit referendum result, that was largely due to currency issues, the pound obviously lost ten percent of its value. As a result we had to put a lot of our prices up because we price our tours in dollars in a lot of our destinations. So we saw a bit of a drop off then. But surprisingly despite all the current chaos we're seeing people are very interested in travelling to far off places from Uzbekistan to Iran and further afield," says Pullman.
Pullman says there's an increase in people from the UK choosing to travel to places further away than Europe, but says it's unclear whether this is related to Brexit.
"I'm not sure whether it's related to current Brexit issue, but we certainly are seeing areas outside Europe growing in popularity from the Silk Road in the Middle East to Latin America as well. Quite why people are shifting their focus away from Europe and into these areas I'm not quite sure whether it's related or whether it's just a trend."
Ted Wake, managing director of Kirker Holidays, that offers luxury short breaks, says he doubts Brexit will be enough to put British people off booking holidays to Europe.
"People have seen political changes over the course of time and people will still want to go on a decent holiday," he says.
"Whatever challenges are in the short term they won't compromise their ambitions to have a well-tailored, carefully planned holiday."
So, if British people are still keen to travel to Europe after March 29 - the date the UK is due to leave the EU - what do they need to know to ensure they don't get caught out at the airport?
The latest Home Office guidance states that UK residents should have at least six months left on their passports from the date of arrival in an EU country.
But there have been suggestions that if the UK crashes out of Europe without a deal, passports many need up to 15 months left on them, potentially leaving millions of UK passports invalid.
Noel Josephides, chairman of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), says people could in fact get caught out, since the expiry date isn't always an accurate reflection of when the passport was issued.
"If in fact the passport you're holding now was issued prior to its expiry you have to add on those months onto the 6 months period. So you may find yourself having to need 10 months, 9 months, 15 months," he explains.
He adds that the safest way to check how long your passport is valid for is to put your details into the government's website.
Josephides says things will become even more complicated for people hoping to take their pets to Europe on a pet passport, should the UK leave the EU without a deal.
But he believes that any potential travel chaos after Brexit will be relatively short lived.
"People will just adjust and the countries will adjust because the last thing they want to do is to put people off going," he says.
Hundreds of tour operators and over 75 tourist boards are attending this year's Destinations travel event, from Europe and beyond, as well as the UK and its surrounding islands.
Ranald Caldwell is chairman of the Isle of Man Visit Agency.
The Isle of Man is an island in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. It's self-governing and not part of the UK or the EU.
Caldwell says given the amount of people in the UK choosing to "staycation" or holiday near their home, the Isle of Man could potentially benefit and become a great post-Brexit option for travellers.
"93 per cent of people in the UK are staying at home for at least a week's holiday a year and that accounts for 13 billion pounds staying within the UK and wider island economy, so as far as we're concerned, we are looking to see a further growth in numbers with people staying at home because of safety and security reasons, but also exchange rate reasons."
"Destinations: The Holiday & Travel Show" ran 31 January - 3 February.
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