The inbound tourism industry has welcomed a planned relaxation of rules for French school groups visiting the UK.
Government sources say rules will be reversed to allow French school groups to use national identity cards instead of passports.
Also, non-EU citizens in school groups will no longer need to obtain a visa under the proposals.
New rules are expected to be introduced in the coming months.
Joss Croft OBE, CEO of UKinbound welcomed the news and eagerly awaits more details.
“This is very welcome news. Since the ability to use ID cards was removed for school groups, we have seen a dramatic decline in numbers and revenue.”
Many tourism businesses rely on this valuable market. The industry has been pushing for this policy change for some time.”
“Implementation does however need to happen as soon as possible if we are to capitalise on this opportunity.”
According to the British Educational Travel Association, school and educational group travel is worth at least £1.5bn a year to the UK economy.
