Abta is maintaining pressure on politicians to avoid a no-deal Brexit amid heightened industry anxiety.
The travel association continues to stress industry concerns as the clock ticks down to the March 29 deadline for the UK to exit the European Union.
Chief executive Mark Tanzer last week wrote to prime minister Theresa May, exiting the EU secretary Stephen Barclay, shadow ministers and selected MPs to re-emphasise increasing worries over a no-deal exit.
This followed a similar communication to all MPs at the end of December.
Tanzer highlighted “the increasing concerns of the UK travel industry relating to the possibility of a no-deal exit”.
“While I acknowledged that there has been progress in certain areas covering the immediate impacts of a no-deal, especially for aviation, there are policy matters of critical importance that have not been resolved including temporary employment rules for staff working within the EU and tax liabilities,” he said.
“The purpose of the letter was to ensure awareness of the very detrimental short-term impact of leaving the EU without agreement on the arrangements that will succeed the status quo, and urge the government and parliamentarians to consider and exhaust all alternatives to avoid the no-deal scenario.”
Tanzer added: “Abta continues to meet and speak with officials from different government departments on a daily basis – stressing the need to address matters where lack of clarity is already damaging businesses and seeking clarification on the issues which affect holidaymakers and business travellers.
“Abta also continues to work to support consumer confidence. Following the success of our online marketing campaign offering practical advice and reassurances about Brexit, which ran at the end of December and reached 1.8 million people, we will be running another marketing campaign over the coming weeks.
“The advertising will direct travellers to Abta’s Brexit advice page – abta.com/Brexit – which has already had 120,000 views.
“There are more votes in parliament this week, and we heard from the prime minister over the weekend that a meaningful vote will be held on 12 March – just over two weeks before we are due to leave the EU.
“This means extended uncertainty and it is important Abta members continue to plan for all eventualities; Abta’s contingency planning guidance can help them do this. An updated version of the guidance will be published later this week.”