How Has Brexit Affected Tourism

Leaving the country and getting some sun – everyone loves feeling the warmth of a foreign sun but, with the departure of the UK from the EU, are you going to have pay a lot more for this privilege?

According to the Institute Of Hospitality, 76% of UK holidays abroad are in European Union countries and 63% of holidaymakers in the UK are from these EU countries.

Back in 2014 the UK’s net contribution to the EU was around £9.8 billion which covers 12.6% of the total EU budget, the third largest contribution.

(infographic created by the Institute Of Hospitality)

When looking at movement of goods and services, around half of total UK exports are accounted for by EU countries, making it the single most important market for the UK.

Brexit consumer impacts:

– Roaming Charges;  The EU has recently introduced caps for mobile phone roaming charges, however the law applying these rules would be removed by Brexit, unless the UK Government acted to ensure it remained on Statute.

– Freedom of Movement; While the UK retains passport control we may have to have visas to travel within the EU this all depending on the outcome.

– European Health Insurance Card; The EHIC is available to all EU residents and guarantees the holder access to local health services on the same terms as those available to locals. In the event of Brexit this could all change meaning insurance premiums would increase and making you pay a lot more if anything was to happen on holiday.

The ability for you, or your children, to work in, for example, ski and beach resorts without a work permit, or fund a trip around Europe by taking casual jobs as you travel, is down to our EU membership which is all about to change. Brexit will mean a rethink of those rules and this could mean a work permit is going to be needed to work in these places.

Sara Wakelam (45) a travel agent for Co-op Travel in Sheffield, said: “As a company we’re 17% up on last year so have seen no negative effects as yet due to Brexit but no one knows the ultimate outcome.

“We have seen a price increase yes, a definite increase for ‘Euro’ countries with Spain and Portugal being the most popular, but as well as Brexit terrorisum is playing a part in it as well, it’s making people a lot more apprehensive.

“We have seen a difference in the amount of people booking holidays and trips away to places like Turkey and Egypt. Although the prices are greatly reduced for Muslim countries, people are still willing to pay the extra to stay in ‘safe’ countries such as Spain and Portugal. And you can’t sway their minds!.”

In the short term, Britain’s tourism industry is already looking to benefit from the frail pound as staycations here in the UK increase and international tourists make the most of the exchange rate.

 

Controlling Calories When Eating Out

We all love dining out, whether that’s eating great food at amazing restaurants or having a greasy burger from a fast-food chain.

However, if you’re a health hungry activist that one meal could throw your diet off balance.

Here in the UK we are eating out more and more.

According to OpenTable, ” Brits spend a quarter of their annual wage on eating out.”

The study shows that Brits eat out on average 1.5 times per week and spend up to £53 per meal.

If you’re eating calorie-laden fast food you’re bound to put on the weight but there are some tips to help eat out and keep slim.

The stronger your control over the food in front of you, the more likely you are to be able to stick to a lower-calorie eating-out plan.

• Choose the right place to eat, choose places where they have low calorie options on their menus.
• If you don’t eat all your food, get the waiter to take it away before you start picking at the remains again.
• If your meal comes with potato chips, swap them for sweet potato.

The main thing is you don’t need to give up eating out, you can just choose meals that are under a calorie count.

For example, Italian restaurant Zizzis have a notice on their menus that some of their meals are under 600 calories, which is great for a meal out without the guilt.

Lee Stocks, senior head chief at True North Restaurants, in Sheffield, said: “It is difficult to create menus that include a range of dietary restrictions when the menus are larger, as the more dishes you have the more time consuming the work is.

“When we open new sites we design the menu to suit everyone’s taste so we use dishes that we class as safe options ( pies, chicken, fish and chips, burgers etc).”

Nutrition is important to the True North chef: “I think our meals are nutritional as the food is cooked fresh, it’s not processed food like you find in a lot of chain restaurants  and we have well balanced dishes with meat, fish, vegetables and salad.”

However, if counting your calories isn’t good enough, looking deeper in to your nutrition is an extra road to go down.

Matt Tagg, a personal trainer, has helped people lose weight and changed their lives. His biggest achievement is 22lbs/1.5 stone in six weeks.

Matt also said that he thinks restaurants could do more “by including all nutritional value of their meals online and on their menus to put people’s minds at ease to what they’re eating. Also having more variety could also be a positive step forward.”

Matt has the following advice for what we should be consuming when either choosing off a menu or at home: “We should be consuming a variety of foods such as complete proteins like chicken, fish and beans. Complex carbohydrates such as sweet potato, oatmeal and rice and essential fatty acids such at omega 3 and 6 from fish and a variety of nuts and seeds.”