British travellers adjust holiday plans ahead of EU's new passport regulations

UK holidaymakers are already altering their European travel plans in anticipation of new passport rules being introduced in the EU and Schengen Area. The European Union is set to introduce two significant changes to travel within Europe: the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) and the ETIAS, both due to be launched in November 2024 and mid-2025 respectively.

The EES is a digital system that will replace the traditional stamping of passports at passport control when arriving or departing from your holiday destination. Once operational, with a target date of November 10, travellers will need to have their photo taken and fingerprints scanned.

On the other hand, ETIAS is the EU's new travel authorisation which travellers will need to apply for prior to travelling to any of the 30 European countries once the system is in place. This is similar to the US's ESTA and the UK's ETA scheme.

READ MORE:Tim Spector says 'incredible' fruit can lower cholesterol and reduce risk of strokes

READ MORE:HMRC tax warning for pensioners with more than £1,600 in savings

Each application will cost approximately £6 and requires personal information such as name, date and place of birth, home address, passport or travel documents, level of education, current occupation, and details of intended travel.

Seamus McCauley, Head of Public Affairs at Holiday Extras, expressed concerns to Express.co.uk about the potential impact of the new ETIAS system on UK travellers' plans: "Some British travellers have already changed their plans to avoid the EES coming on November 10", reports the Express.

"More are likely to do the same when ETIAS comes in since there are plenty of alternative destinations that don't demand the new paperwork - Ireland, Cyprus, Albania, Turkey, the Channel Isles, Montenegro, Georgia and anywhere in North Africa like Tunisia, Morocco or Egypt, just to name some of the places you can fly to direct in one to four hours that won't be adopting the new system."

A September poll by Holiday Extras involving 1,000 qualified UK airport travellers revealed these insights.

Additionally, Co-Op Insurance's survey found that 22 percent of Brits could be discouraged from visiting European countries due to the upcoming digital border system.

The research, which included responses from 2,005 adults and compared data from January-August 2024 with the same period in 2023, indicated that nearly half (45 percent) of those deterred are uncomfortable with having their biometric data stored for three years, while 38 percent worry about potential long delays at borders.

According to the Co-op study, younger individuals, specifically those under 44, are more likely to be deterred from travelling to Europe because of anticipated lengthy delays at borders than those aged 45 and above.

A significant 28% of young adults aged between 18 and 44 have confessed that the new system could deter them from travelling to Europe, in contrast to a mere 17% of those over 45.

The impact of these fresh passport regulations on the tourism sector in 2025 is yet to be determined, particularly as 2024 is predicted to set new records, especially within Europe, following a full recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.