Debate contribution: Tourism: ETA Impact
Debate contribution by Mr Conor Murphy on .
- MLA
- Mr Conor Murphy
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 20 January 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Tourism: ETA Impact
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4744655
Read the official Assembly record
Text
You have to judge the positivity of a meeting not by the pleasantness of the conversation, which was very pleasant, or by the exchange of information — we provided further written information to the Minister and the Home Office — but by the outcome, which was not positive. The outcome was that they went ahead, and not only did they go ahead but they announced an increase in the fee from £10 to £16 for the electronic travel authorisation document. Our preferred solution was not to go ahead with the scheme at all, in recognition of our particular and unique circumstances here. Our secondary proposal was to allow a five- to seven-day waiver for people travelling from the South into the North but not intending to go on to Britain. That would have covered an estimated percentage in the high 90s of our international visitors, who come for roughly that length of time. Those solutions were put to the Home Office. It has already worked to find some practical solutions to other issues. For instance, people who are resident south of the border but are not necessarily Irish citizens can travel without an ETA. For some reason, French school groups can travel to Britain without an ETA, yet we did not get movement on our situation. There is a strong fear and recognition that this is potentially damaging to our economy. International visitors are high spending and provide a significant income for our tourism providers, so we will continue to press that case.
253 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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