Gathering at a parliamentary reception to celebrate the British Educational Travel Association’s 21st anniversary, stakeholders in the youth and education travel industry united to advocate for crucial changes that will drive the sector’s growth and ensure its long-term success.

Speaking at the event, Steve Lowy, chairman of BETA, spoke about the importance of youth mobility to UK educational tourism.

“Our latest industry statistics that came out a few weeks ago show that the youth, student and educational travel sector is worth £34.6 billion to the UK economy,” said Lowy.

He highlighted that those coming to the UK to study, tour and work accounted for 33% of all international arrivals.

“21 years ago, BETA was launched in parliament with a clear set of strategic aims to raise the profile of youth student and educational travel to, from and within the UK and to create commercial opportunities between buyers and suppliers. Over the last two decades we have done just that.

“Today we celebrate a vibrant and thriving network of businesses and stakeholders committed to creating life changing experiences for young people,” said Lowy, while speaking at the House of Lords event.

Despite its achievements, the industry continues to push for key initiatives that will not only ensure its growth but also deliver significant benefits to the UK economy.

Since Brexit, barriers have increased for school groups groups wishing to visit the UK and UK schools to visit the EU.

Under current rules, students from French school groups can to travel to the UK using just ID cards. Lowy said this UK-France declaration is a “positive step” but “far from comprehensive” and pointed to research showing that 70% of French school teachers say that abandoning this scheme would students make less likely to travel to the UK.

“We ask that we are part of the policy making decisions, not just the messengers for new legislation,” said Lowy.

We ask that we are part of the policy making decisions, not just the messengers for new legislation
_{Steve Lowy, BETA}

A “prime example” is the rollout of the ETA scheme which Lowy said has implications for the French school groups who have an exemption to travel, but this new system says they cannot. BETA is urging officials for a response to this.

“We urge the government to partner with us to ensure these arrangements are solidified and expanded to other countries,” he said.

Elsewhere, despite rejection from the new UK government, BETA continues to call for an expanded youth mobility scheme across the EU.

“This demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding between reintroducing the free movement of people and a time-limited visa based scheme that is already driving economic and cultural benefits with other countries, including Australia and New Zealand.

“The Youth Mobility Scheme would not only allow bright young people to come to the UK and share their knowledge and skills and build a lifetime affinity with the UK, but it also allows British young people to do the same and explore Europe and improve their language skills, which is essential for the UK to be competitive on a global scale in the future.

“A scheme like this will aid the growth of UK GDP, give us a network of global investors and allow us to be true global players, something I don’t think anyone can deny that we need at present.”

Lowy emphasised the wider economic benefits of such a scheme, highlighting that youth travellers spend 69% of their travel budget directly on local economies.  The labour force also benefits, with youth travellers contributing to service sectors that rely on seasonal workers and temporary skilled professionals.

Generation Alpha is projected to be the largest generation in history, with China, India, and Nigeria leading in the highest rates of Gen Alpha births.

“These countries are already high volume visitors to the UK, so there should be enormous importance in creating an open and welcoming environment and investment in attracting these repeat visitors,” said Lowy.

BETA is keen to continue to nurture these connections, leading to lifetime repeat visits and business loyalty. The long term effects of a global network of investors, and an international outlook amongst students continue to be at the heart of BETA’s manifesto.