EXCLUSIVE-Brexit disruption may return with summer tourists, Dover chief says

Doug Bannister, CEO of the Port of Dover, told Reuters the site had managed the switch to full customs checks well so far, after Britain left the trade bloc at the end of 2020. "That's because we haven't seen the demand for tourists coming from our facilities, as we would normally expect to see," he told Reuters on a bright sunny day as a ferry departed for Calais.

Britain's biggest port said that post-Brexit disruption could return to Dover and slow trade when holidaymakers head for Europe this summer so the government must urgently reconsider funding redevelopment to prevent long-term damage. Britain's passage out of the European Union was eased by a lack of tourists driving to France during the pandemic, enabling port staff to process the additional paperwork for trucks that is now required to access Europe, and keep goods moving.

But the government dropped a travel quarantine requirement for fully vaccinated Britons on Thursday, potentially opening up holiday routes and increasing the number of vehicles that could descend on the south-west port in the summer. Doug Bannister, CEO of the Port of Dover, told Reuters the site had managed the switch to full customs checks well so far, after Britain left the trade bloc at the end of 2020.

"That's because we haven't seen the demand for tourists coming from our facilities, as we would normally expect to see," he told Reuters on a bright sunny day as a ferry departed for Calais. "It's at those points in time when the pressure on the total system increases."