- European tourism has grown ten-fold since Schengen in 1995
- Irish tourism from emerging markets has doubled
Research by Europe’s Tour Operators Association suggests Ireland would attract five times as many visitors from emerging markets were it part of the Schengen Agreement.
The group notes a major disparity in the number of visitors between Schengen and the non-Schengen sample.
The Schengen Agreement has been of huge benefit in the provision of a single visa for travelers to Europe.
The advent of the single visa in 1995 changed this: one visa was needed from the entry country, and one fee paid. Prior to this anyone coming from a country requiring a visa was required to obtain separate visas for each country visited. This came at a considerable cost in terms of money and time.
in 2014 France declared 1.6m Chinese visitors, Germany 1.1m, Italy 2.3m; in that year non- Schengen Britain received 185,000 and Ireland 50,000.
The Schengen visa is three pages long, gives access to twenty seven countries and costs €60. Ireland and Britain’s visa is twelve pages long, gives access to two countries and costs €100.
Ireland and Britain’s visa requires everyone to list all international journeys over the last ten years, stating duration and purpose. It asks such questions as: “Have you ever, by any means or medium, expressed views that justify or glorify terrorist violence or that may encourage others to terrorist acts or other serious criminal acts? Have you engaged in any other activities that might indicate that you may not be considered a person of good character?”
What is clear is that being in Schengen enables a country to draw on the attraction of its neighbours. Ireland and Britain have seen tourism arrivals from India roughly double since 1998; Belgium has seen them grow by five and a half times and Switzerland by four times in the same period.
Tom Jenkins, CEO of ETOA said “whatever difficulties are faced by the Common Travel Area, the Schengen Visa has been a big success. Millions of additional visitors have come to Europe, spending billions of Euros, and creating tens of thousands of jobs. It shows how well Europe can work.”
Karan Anand, Chairman of the Outbound Committee of the Indian Association of Tour Operators said: “before the advent of the Schengen agreement, any Indian planning to go on a pan-European vacation was confronted with formidable bureaucratic obstacles,. As it took up to six weeks to apply for a visa, it was not impossible for customers to have to go through six months of applications in order to have a visit. Schengen has thus been an enormous improvement. We are now can sell tours featuring the places that our clients want to visit in a way which was impossible. Even today the challenge before us is to manage demand as the number of Indians visiting the Schengen area is growing by at least 25pc year on year. The Schengen agreement is a boon for travellers.”
