Helping government understand travel and the impact of COVID
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dhewitt@abta.co.uk Thu, 05/15/2025 - 08:45
It’s five years since COVID-19 shook the world and brought travel to a standstill, taking an enormous financial and mental toll on ABTA members. While travel has undoubtedly recovered, it’s important we work with government to ensure lessons are learnt for any future events, and this week we represented members at the government’s COVID inquiry.
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.
We also highlighted the inconsistencies in government guidance and how this applied to different parts of the travel industry.
This was particularly notable in the financial support made available. Retail travel agents were initially overlooked for the government’s discretionary grants scheme; however ABTA successfully lobbied for high street agents to be included, bringing in some much needed financial assistance. But we know from our discussions and support to members at the time, that many businesses received varying levels of support depending on where they 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.
Travel businesses also faced the withdrawal of financial support eight months before travel was able to reopen. This was both problematic in terms of keeping businesses going, but also then being ready to operate when travel did reopen, in terms of having the staff available, particularly given the short notice of a restart.
We did also take the opportunity to stress 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. 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 also have the opportunity to share their personal stories and experiences with the inquiry directly, through a process called Every Story Matters. The deadline to submit is 23 May should you wish to take part. More information here.
Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive
Continue reading...
Full Page image
dhewitt@abta.co.uk Thu, 05/15/2025 - 08:45
It’s five years since COVID-19 shook the world and brought travel to a standstill, taking an enormous financial and mental toll on ABTA members. While travel has undoubtedly recovered, it’s important we work with government to ensure lessons are learnt for any future events, and this week we represented members at the government’s COVID inquiry.
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.
We also highlighted the inconsistencies in government guidance and how this applied to different parts of the travel industry.
This was particularly notable in the financial support made available. Retail travel agents were initially overlooked for the government’s discretionary grants scheme; however ABTA successfully lobbied for high street agents to be included, bringing in some much needed financial assistance. But we know from our discussions and support to members at the time, that many businesses received varying levels of support depending on where they 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.
Travel businesses also faced the withdrawal of financial support eight months before travel was able to reopen. This was both problematic in terms of keeping businesses going, but also then being ready to operate when travel did reopen, in terms of having the staff available, particularly given the short notice of a restart.
We did also take the opportunity to stress 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. 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 also have the opportunity to share their personal stories and experiences with the inquiry directly, through a process called Every Story Matters. The deadline to submit is 23 May should you wish to take part. More information here.
Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive
Continue reading...
