New ETA red tape could cost Northern Ireland £250m each year, tourism chief warns

Exclusive: ‘There are very serious implications if people are stopped and found to be without an ETA’ – Dr Joanne Stuart, Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance

Empty quarter? Northern Ireland could lose £250m annually if visitors are deterred by demand for Electronic Travel Authorisation (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

New red tape could cost Northern Ireland £250m in lost revenue if foreign visitors stay away, the nation’s tourism leader has warned.

Joanne Stuart, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance, was responding to the government’s announcement that all overseas visitors to the UK will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) by April 2025.

Dr Stuart told The Independent daily travel podcast: “Northern Ireland is promoted as a destination overseas as part of the island of Ireland, and has been built very much on seamless travel.

“About 70 per cent of our international visitors arrive in Dublin or an airport in the south first and then, as part of their trip, will travel up and include some time in Northern Ireland – at the Giants’ Causeway and Titanic Belfast.

“To do that, they cross the land border into the UK jurisdiction and therefore will require an Electronic Travel Authorisation before they travel. People don’t realise that they’re they’re necessarily going into a different jurisdiction.

“When they book their flight to come to Dublin they’re not going to be told. Our concern is that those people coming in... don’t realise one that they’re going into the UK.”

No checks will be made at the border, but Dr Stuart warned: “There are intelligence-led checks in Northern Ireland. People may be stopped because they’ve had an accident or for some other reason. And their status could be checked at that point.

“The legislation is written, people can be deported. They can be detained. There are very serious implications if people are stopped and found to be without an ETA.”

Tourists must apply in advance of travel to the UK – including if they only want take a short-cut through a corner of Northern Ireland between Dublin and Donegal.

Dr Stuart is particularly concerned that coach tours which currently visit multiple destinations across the island of Ireland may decide to stay south.

“Our concern is that tour operators will decide there’s plenty to do in the Republic of Ireland – and say, ‘We’re not going to go through all of that administration burden to ensure that everybody has got the ETA’.”

“At risk certainly is around 20 per cent of [visitor] spend – so between £200m and £250m.”

The upper figure represents about £130 for each resident in the nation. It covers only losses from tourists who would currently be expected to stay overnight in Northern Ireland. A similar sum could be lost if European and North American visitors in the republic decide against making day trips to Northern Ireland.

In response, a UK government spokesperson said: “We are introducing Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETAs) to digitise the UK border, enhance security and improve the experience for travellers.

“People arriving in the UK, including Northern Ireland, need to continue to enter in line with the UK’s immigration framework, including obtaining an ETA if required.

“We are committed to working with a wide range of stakeholders to help ensure the ETA requirement is communicated effectively and to mitigate against it being seen as a barrier to cross-border tourism on the island of Ireland.”

In 2023, Northern Ireland reported a record £1.2bn in tourism earnings.