For British tourists, Brexit offers the incentive to shop Tax Free in the EU from January 1^st 2021. This presents a revenue generating opportunity for EU Merchants who can capitalize on the incentive. In this article we examine the opportunity and outline how Merchants can prepare to target, attract and convert British spenders in the EU.

What volume of UK tourists visit the EU? Last year, more than 67 million visits were made by UK residents to EU destinations [1]. The most visited destination was Spain (18.1 million visits), followed by France (10.3m) Italy (5.1m) and the Republic of Ireland (4.8m). British tourists also play a key role in tourism for EU countries including the Netherlands (3.6m), Greece (3.4m), Germany (3.3m) and Portugal (3.3m). [2]

How will Brexit affect these impressive figures?

Travel and Tourism is sensitive to a wide number of events including currency fluctuations, access to travel corridors and the perceived safety of destination. For non-EU visitors, Brexit will present new processes and procedures for travel to the EU [3]. Despite these conditions, the appetite for travel remains intact. Last month, holiday bookings from the UK soared after the Canary Islands were moved to the quarantine green list [4]. Moreover, many hundreds of thousands of British citizens own properties in EU countries and millions of UK citizens are repeat visitors to the most popular European destinations.

Whilst in the EU, after accommodation, UK tourists’ spend the most on entertainment (14%) and F&B (13%) [5]. The percentage spend on retail shopping in the EU by outbound British tourists could increase due to new price differentials for goods and new incentive of Tax Free shopping. Post Brexit British tourists will discover the advantages of shopping in the EU, in the same way they used to enjoy a wide range of products at more affordable prices in the EU.

Generating revenue for EU Retail and Tourism

That British shoppers can now shop tax free provides a big opportunity for EU retailers to capitalise on the large volume of tourists coming from the UK. From January 1^st, 2021 Merchants will be able to drive more sales by using Tax Free pricing as a way to attract British tourists.

Can your EU business benefit?

• Is your EU business located in a traditionally popular destination for UK visitors?
• Are your EU sales staff aware that, from January 1^st, British shoppers will be eligible for Tax Free shopping in store?
• Do you know how to attract and engage Tax Free shoppers?
• Are you used to processing international tourist payments in the currency of their choice? Are you proactively offering this currency conversion service?
• Is your hotel, restaurant, retail store or tourist attraction equipped with their preferred payment methods?
• Are you offering international customers clarity and convenience by giving them the choice to pay in their own currency for retail, meals, accommodation and entertainment spending?

We help Merchants to maximise revenue from international spenders. Our measurable, digital marketing campaigns have a proven and successful track record in driving in-store footfall, spend and deep customer analytics. Our new Brexit specific packages are designed to target and attract the British tourist and our in-store training modules provide retail teams with the knowledge and techniques necessary for maximum revenue generation.