Leading figures in Cumbria’s tourism industry say they are confident businesses will overcome the workforce challenges posed by post-Brexit restrictions on workers from the European Union.

Speaking exclusively in the October edition of in-Cumbria magazine, Dr Angela Anthonisz and Ian Stephens, of the University of Cumbria, said they believe the industry will find a way to respond to the Government’s wage threshold on low skilled workers once Britain leaves the EU.

Under current Government proposals, workers from the EU will need to earn more than £30,000 to stay in the UK longer term post-Brexit.

And while it is understood to be considering lowering the wage threshold to £22,500, it is still way above the average wage in hospitality for the region, which stands at £17,000.

Around 20,000 of the county’s tourism 65,000-strong workforce is made up of non-UK citizens, the vast majority from Europe.

The issue has been repeatedly highlighted by businesses and organisations such as Cumbria Tourism, which fears the wage threshold could leave a gaping hole in the county’s workforce and hit an industry worth £3 billion a year to the economy.

Mr Stephens, the former managing director of Cumbria Tourism, now professor of practice at the university, said the picture looked “very stark” due to a lack of information on the controversial issue – with immigration continuing to be a key area of debate as the Brexit process rumbles on.

“Our first priority, full stop, is to make sure those from Europe are made welcome, are reassured and that we do everything possible within the law to keep them working in the UK,” he said.

“Secondly, we’ve had a transient element to the visitor economy since it has begun. There will be other markets in the world, be it South America, North America, Asia and Africa, that there will be an opportunity to bring a new potential workforce to the UK.

“It may take time, and it may be damaging in the short to medium term, but we will find a new labour force albeit, the sooner the better. I’m optimistic commerce and industry has always found a way to resolve those sorts of problems.”

Dr Anthonisz, the university’s new principal lecturer in tourism management, echoed the sentiment.

“One of the things with tourism and hospitality is that it is incredibly dynamic and flexible and will find a way to respond to whatever happens,” she said.

“At the moment the issue is that nobody is making a decision. Whether you are for leave or remain, somebody needs to make a decision.

“I would imagine many businesses are more frustrated than concerned. They just want something that will set a direction. At the moment it is so vague.”

The new president of Cumbria Tourism, Eric Robson, recently made challenging the Government’s post-Brexit immigration policy his top priority.

Mr Robson has vowed to lobby political and media contacts regionally and nationally on an issue, which he fears will hit businesses in a sector that already struggles to recruit given Cumbria’s relatively low levels of unemployment.

Dr Anthonisz and Mr Stephens are the driving force behind several new courses that have been introduced by the University of Cumbria and delivered from its campus in Ambleside, to upskill the county’s tourism and hospitality workforce.

Working with the industry, the university hopes to propel people up the career ladder while at the same time pave the way for a new generation to take up opportunities in the industry.

It will also launch the UK’s first postgraduate MBA in tourism management in September 2020 to help students from Cumbria, the UK and overseas on their journey to the highest-level jobs the sector can offer.

  • Learn more about the courses and how the University of Cumbria is aiming to develop the county’s tourism workforce by viewing the latest edition of in-Cumbria, available to read online at www.in-cumbria.com/magazines