Do you remember the alarm and scaremongering that ensued in the lead up to the year 2000? In the final months of 1999, concern grew into panic that the millennium bug was going to cause computers to malfunction and potentially disrupt everything from bank transactions to energy supplies. We are still here – life went on with much less of a hiccup than expected.

Now, in 2018 we know that Brexit is inevitable but once again it is panic stations. If common sense prevails, most of us will survive, fuelled by the enterprise and ingenuity of business leaders and entrepreneurs, employees and customers, regulators and administrators around the world.

Steve Pinnock, PAEM’s Managing Director, spoke to C&IT magazine this week on how to counter the Brexit effect and how we should prepare for the most likely scenarios by planning for change. For the travel industry, likely scenarios include:

• Exchange rate fluctuations and a weakened UK currency
• Staff shortages affected by immigration controls
• Restrictions on work permits in the UK and overseas
• New visa entry requirements
• Delays at borders
• Changes to or the end of the current EU Open Skies agreement
• Increasing costs for products and services
• Reduced budgets for both business clients and consumers
• Reduced overall demand
• Reduced operating profits
• Changes in regulations and laws
• Higher travel and health insurance premiums

All scenarios we can anticipate and for which we can prepare contingency plans. Whilst the degrees of significance vary, every business must adapt to survive and so these new developments should be seen as part of that continuous process.

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