Sally Everton, director of Visit Devon, said she could see the argument against CET when it came to jobs such as farming, while commuters travelling on “unlit country lanes” in the morning might be disadvantaged.
For tourism, though, she believed the pros of aligning with Europe outweighed the cons.
An extra hour of useable daylight in the colder months would make more space for activities like hiking and extend the tourism season. Lighter evenings could also boost hospitality, helping both “daytime and evening economies”, she said.
Aligning with Europe could simplify travel schedules for European tourists and make Devon a “more attractive destination” for weekend-breakers, said Everton.
Meanwhile, an extra hour of winter daylight in the evening could benefit maritime businesses, said Paul Britton, harbour master of the Dart in Devon.
“Working at sea is dangerous enough at the best of times but trying to do things in darkness is more challenging – that extra hour of darkness in the evening suddenly takes away an extra hour of the day,” he said.
“If it was purely a decision on harbour operations, I would say we should stick with British Summer Time through the winter.”
He argues an extra evening hour would lead to “more economic activity”, while currently the hour between 16:00 GMT and 17:00 was often “wasted time”.
“The stuff you do early in the morning can often be the stuff done more easily in the darkness – getting ready, setting up operations can more easily be done in slight darkness,” he said.