As part of its ongoing advocacy collaboration, leading UK travel associations UKinbound and ABTA yesterday (Tuesday 10th December) hosted a Youth Mobility drop-in event in Parliament.
Attended by 28 Parliamentarians, the event gave MPs the opportunity to learn why improving youth mobility between the UK and Europe would help deepen diplomatic and cultural links, enhance opportunities for young people, and support UK travel businesses.
The associations are calling on the UK Government to expand the existing Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS), a reciprocal cultural exchange programme that gives young people – typically aged 18-30 – the opportunity to live, work and study in another country, usually for two or three years. Countries that are currently part of the scheme include Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Monaco and Hong Kong.
UKinbound and ABTA would like to see arrangements put in place with EU countries, either bilaterally or on a pan-EU basis. The associations highlight important markets such as France, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands, as places where youth mobility agreements would help to grow tourism and restore lost opportunities for workers in their sectors.
The bodies are also keen to stress that such agreements should not be conflated with freedom of movement, as the deals are time limited and offer no right to remain for participants.
Joss Croft OBE, CEO of UKinbound said:
“We were delighted to meet with so many PMs that are supportive of expanding the Youth Mobility Scheme to European countries. Cultural exchange is a fantastic way for young people to experience life in another country, develop life-long affiliations, learn a new language and develop a new skill that will benefit them throughout their career.
“With their much-needed foreign language skills, these young people also make a valuable contribution to the UK economy while they are here, and allow us to establish vitally important cultural, political, and business links between countries.
“We are urging the UK Government to make a reciprocal UK-EU Youth Mobility Scheme a priority, either bilaterally or on a pan-EU basis as part of the UK’s review of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement in 2026.”
Luke Petherbridge, Director of Public Affairs at ABTA – The Travel Association said:
“It’s been really difficult for our members to recruit the people they need to support their operations across Europe since Brexit, so much so there has been an 69% drop in UK nationals occupying tourism support roles within the EU.
“As the majority of people in these roles are young, often just starting out their careers, an agreement to allow the temporary exchange of young people would help to address the significant staffing barriers that UK travel businesses have faced since the UK’s departure from the EU.
“We were pleased to have the opportunity to explain this to MPs, and to address directly how these deals are about deepening cultural exchange, extending opportunities for individuals in each country, and enabling businesses to grow. They’re not connected to freedom of movement.
As we move toward the review of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation agreement over the next two years, ABTA is focused on advocating for changes that could enhance UK-EU tourism – and youth mobility is an important aspect of this.”
The UK’s inbound and outboard travel sector contribute £82.5 billion annually to the UK economy and employ more than 1.3 million people.