Travel News and Brexit Blues…
February 11, 2021
Travel...? What's that again...?
Now we're out of Europe we can begin the pragmatic approach to life after Brexit. School trips to France will still take place, we are sure - but how do we plan when we don't yet understand potential paperwork pitfalls? What is actually happening? And have the Foreign and Commonwealth Office even given any advice?
Yesterday the School Travel Sector Stakeholder Group - or STSSG (not a type of inter-galactic freighter from Star Wars, but a Department for Education initiative involving the leading organisations in school travel) delivered its roadmap to restarting school travel and its Covid-Safe Operating Procedures ready for an end-of-February review. You can read about it more here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55957047
Yet this doesn't mean that schools can start to travel abroad just yet. Domestic, UK travel will be restarted before international school trips to France, or anywhere abroad, but the lead-in time will ultimately mean that 2022 is a realistic target for school trips to begin again. Until the Department for education changes its guidance, the FCO won't either - and that's assuming you can easily find it on the government website...
Brexit...
The French government is still finalising the details around travel; ports are still learning how our exit from the Union will affect travel. The efficiency of passengers on coaches passing through passport control has yet to be tested. Yet we think there’s reasons for optimism:
- France is still our most accessible neighbour and many regional businesses here rely heavily on trade from UK visitors. There is massive incentive from the French side for inbound travel to go smoothly.
- The links between the UK and France run deeper than a political Union. We believe schools will want to visit France and that an appetite to explore and discover has not been diminished.
- We will be working harder than ever to take the burden away from schools in preparing any necessary paperwork. Some things we won’t be able to do, but we will support as far as is possible. Our long-standing network of professional coach companies are working hard to understand their requirements too – in short, schools are not in isolation when considering a trip. In fact, they will be partnering with operators for whom this is their “bread and butter.”
Finally, for many UK tour companies specialising in school trips to France and with their own, French activity centres and accommodation, there is still a lack of clarity around seconding staff from the UK to France. Although the Brexit deal provides for this arrangement to extend for another 24 months, each member state needs to adopt it independently and has the right to refuse. France is still mulling it over two weeks into February. Either way, it means there's a good chance all staff will need to adhere to a French National Insurance scheme before too long, and that may mean UK schools meet far more local, French staff as a result. For UK schools visiting France, the Frenchness of the experience might be about to become even more French.
So why not enquire about some potential dates for the 2022 season now? You could pencil some dates now with no need to commit a deposit until much nearer the time!
Bon courage à tous et bonne continuation!