With the arrival of British Summer Time last weekend, BALPPA has joined the growing chorus asking the Government to shift UK clocks to Central European Time, putting them one hour ahead of GMT in winter and two hours ahead in the summer – creating lighter evenings all year round.
Such a move would create up to 80,000 new jobs and boost the economy by £2.5-3.5bn a year according to a report by th
e Tourism Alliance.
And according to ROSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents) it would also reduce carbon emissions – 447,000 tonnes of CO2 on winter calculations alone – improve public health by encouraging more outdoor activity and prevent some 80 road deaths a year, saving the NHS £138m.
Leisure day visits make up about 50 per cent of the tourist industry and are currently constrained by the early advent of darkness in the winter months. By putting the clocks forward by an hour all year round, visitor attractions would benefit significantly, argues the trade body.
Paul Kelly, chief executive of BALPPA, commented: “BALPPA is strongly in favour of UK time being shifted permanently ahead by one hour. This simple, relatively low-cost change would have far reaching positive benefits for the tourism and hospitality industry, as well as on health, wellbeing and crime across the UK’. We will continue to lobby government to secure this important change which would provide a vital boost to domestic tourism in what are otherwise challenging times for the industry’’.