Skift Take
Party manifestos should be treated with a healthy degree of skepticism. Still it is revealing to see what the priorities are and perhaps more importantly what they decide to leave out.
On June 8 voters in the United Kingdom will get the chance to decide who will form the next government. The country wasn’t supposed to have an election until 2020 but through a quirk of the electoral system current Prime Minister Theresa May was able to initiate a vote.
May is hoping her Conservative Party make big gains across the country, giving her a stronger hand when it comes to negotiating its exit from the European Union, the biggest challenge the UK has faced "since the second world war".
Ahead of the election each of the parties releases a manifesto, detailing everything they would do if they formed a government. Current polling suggests that the Conservatives (right wing) are on course to increase their advantage over the Labour Party (left wing) with the Liberal Democrats (central) taking a small number of seats. The Scottish National Party dominate north of the border and are actually the third biggest party, but they do not contest nationally. Since the Brexit vote, right-wing populists the United Kingdom Independence Party have seen their popularity sink.
The UK tourism industry is expected to be worth more than $335 billion (£257 billion) by 2025, and account for just under 10 percent of UK gross domestic product (GDP). Uncertainty surrounding Brexit puts this under threat.
The UK’s airline industry, which helps bring millions of visitors to the country each year, is intrinsically linked to the rest of the European Union (EU). Then there is the reliance of migrant labour from the rest of the to fill tourism jobs. These and other issues relating to travel and tourism need to be addressed if the UK is going succeed on its own.
Skift took a look at each of the three main parties’ manifestos to see how seriously they were taking the subject.
Tourism
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