Winter season in 'dire situation', says SBIT chief

Owen’s comments came during a panel discussion at Abta’s Travel Law seminar on Tuesday (10 May), which featured Farina Azam, partner at Deloitte Legal; Anna Anatolitou, partner at Ince; and Debbie Venn, partner at DMH Stallard.

"When we left [the EU], freedom of movement and labour stopped," SBIT managing director Owen said. "If you wanted to get a UK staff member to work overseas in the EU, you needed to apply for work permits and visas, as well as multiple further stages of red tape, which has proved to be an absolute nightmare."

Between 9,000 and 10,000 UK staff are thought to have worked in the Alps during the winter season, Owen claimed. "This year, however, the figure is predicted to be around 2,000," he said.

"We know this could be due to Covid, but Covid is a blip," Owen continued. "What this has caused is a massive redrawing of the industry, because the whole industry worked on the premise there was going to be a plentiful supply of labour that you could recruit two or three months before the start of the winter season.

"We now have a significant issue with labour supply and the industry has significantly constricted as a result and companies have reduced their portfolios."

However, Owen told delegates Mediterranean nations have "less friction" when it comes to employing British workers. "It’s not friction free, but we have had less problems," he said.

"Summer seasons tend to be less reliant on the quantity of labour. It will still be problematic, but not as problematic as the winter season, which is in a dire situation."