Holidays in Europe after Brexit

The referendum called by David Cameron, which sealed his fate by giving Britain “Brexit” from the EU, may have some unseen effects for many of us, in the area we probably least thought of when casting our votes, that of our European holidays.

Some of the more fanciful of the warnings by the “stay in” campaign do not to date seem to have brought noticeable quantities of war, plague, famine, or death, break down of society, moral or otherwise, nor led to rips and tears in the very fabric of the universe.

Steam still turns turbines, magnetic north still pulls an iron needle towards it. Cows still produce milk, planes are not dropping out of the sky with any greater frequency than normal, yeast in bread still rises, as does the sun and moon, in short, not much seems to have happened, yet.

The “doomed” economy has actually performed better than any G10 country and employment and industrial output, seem, for the time being to be booming, the top 100 stock market has broken all its highest records, and economists (yes, there are still one or two brave enough to put their heads over the parapet) tell us that the major visible downturn, the fall of the value of the pound, is a natural adjustment of an overvalued currency.

With a thriving economy, does the fall in value of the pound, (a corrective measure, some say) matter much to you or I? well of course it is going to, viewing industrial output, measuring world economies and multi-national trade deals are one thing, but let’s look at the important things here, our holidays!

The immediate effect is that across Europe, which is where most of us Brits holiday, be it the fields of France, the Costas of Spain, rolling Italy or the sparkling Greek islands, everything from a coffee to a night’s sleep will cost more.

Flying will inevitably cost more as freedom of the skies over Europe may have to be bought. The exchange rate against the dollar will have its effect. Aircraft are bought with dollars, and oil and its fuel derivatives, petrol, aviation fuel etc. also, with inevitable increases if the currency disparity continues to widen.

There are many other hiccups and trip-ups waiting in the wings of European countries, many looking to benefit from national interest, but the mere holiday maker, a large source of income to many, it is hoped, will be able to pass unhindered and welcomed, albeit a little more expensively for our favourite holiday destination, Europe.