NI removed from tourism itineraries due to ETA scheme, Archibald tells MLAs

Northern Ireland is being removed from the itineraries of tourism trips to the island of Ireland due to the UK’s new visa waiver scheme, Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald has told MLAs.

Ms Archibald said she was “deeply concerned” about the impact on tourism of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme, as its rollout continues this week.

From January 8, all non-European visitors to the UK who do not require a visa have had to purchase an ETA instead.

From Wednesday, European visitors will also need an ETA, which is linked to a traveller’s passport.

The cost of an ETA will rise from £10 to £16 on April 9.

Irish citizens travelling into Northern Ireland do not require an ETA because they are entitled to move freely in the UK under the Common Travel Area arrangements.

Tourism businesses in Northern Ireland have been warning for more than two years about the potential consequences of the post-Brexit scheme, highlighting that 70% of international visitors to the region travel across its land border having arrived in the Republic of Ireland first.

During ministerial question time at the Assembly on Monday, SDLP MLA Sinead McLaughlin asked the minister what engagements she had ahead of the scheme being rolled out for European citizens.

Ms McLaughlin said: “We have repeatedly highlighted the threat that this poses to the all-island tourism economy.”

Ms Archibald responded: “I am deeply concerned about the impact of the introduction of the ETA scheme and what it will mean for our tourism sector.

“I met with the Tourism Alliance last week and heard about their concerns and the very real impact that is now being seen from the introduction of this scheme.

“They were talking about tourism trips actually being cancelled at this point and the north being removed from itineraries due to that requirement for visitors to have an ETA.”

The minister said she had engaged with the UK Government as recently as last week on the issue.

She said there should be an exemption for Northern Ireland “given the particular impact that there is and how visitors travel to the island mostly through Dublin and then to the north”.

Ms McLaughlin asked the minister if she would publish her department’s research on the economic impact for Northern Ireland of the ETA scheme.

Ms Archibald said: “This is something we are continuing to monitor.

“We are working both with the Tourism Alliance, but also Tourism Ireland in terms of understanding the impact and we will continue to take an economic analysis of that.

“When you look at how many European citizens travel, they travel with ID cards and therefore are not even able to get an ETA because you need a passport to get it.

“The impact is going to be significant and it is important we do understand that.”