ABTA attended the Government’s COVID-19 inquiry this week, using the opportunity to highlight the challenges the industry faced during the pandemic.
In a blog post after the meeting, which took the form of a round-table discussion, ABTA Chief Executive Mark Tanzer said: “We raised a number of issues including the need for better cohesion across government and the UK’s devolved administrations, as well as the operational difficulties caused by the traffic light regime.
“You will remember the painful system of countries quickly moving from green, meaning fine to go, to red, which meant do not visit, making it impossible for businesses and travellers to plan, and suppressing demand for travel.”
Mark said ABTA also highlighted inconsistencies in Government guidance and financial support, which often depended on where members were based ‘and the priorities of their local councils’.
“Similarly, we pointed out that the furlough scheme, while certainly a helpful initiative, didn’t cater for the realities travel businesses faced and the need for staff to process refunds and provide support to customers, while at the same time not being able to generate any income,” said Mark.
ABTA also stressed the ‘remarkable bounce back in international travel once UK restrictions were lifted, emphasising the value travel brings to the UK economy and its role in driving growth’.
Mark added: “And we of course stressed the growing appreciation for organised travel – and the role that travel agents and tour operators play when something goes wrong, which consumers tell us they increasingly value.
“The issues we raised at the inquiry this week echo what we said during the pandemic, and with our engagements with government straight after, and we’ll continue to make the case on the need to learn lessons from COVID.”
Travel businesses can share their personal stories with the inquiry, through a process called Every Story Matters. The deadline to submit is 23 May.
