Outbound travel industry set to deliver £62bn a year by 2030

The UK’s outbound travel industry can deliver growth of 20% by 2030 – making it worth £62 billion a year to the UK economy, up from £52 billion currently, according to Abta.

 

New research from the trade association also highlights the part outbound travel plays in supporting inbound and domestic tourism across the UK.

 

Abta said these findings should be “music to the government’s ears” given its focus and reliance on growing the economy to meet its manifesto and public service ambitions.

 

Called Outbound travel: a catalyst for jobs, growth and wellbeing, the report said that without the volumes of UK residents heading overseas, many regional airports would struggle to survive – “putting at risk inbound tourism and damaging communities across the country that rely on tourism income”.

 

Regional airports that are particularly dependent on outbound leisure passengers include East Midlands (90%), Manchester (78%), Birmingham (78%), Bristol (75%), and Exeter (75%).

 

However, Abta warned that the growth predictions and regional potential require the “right tax and policy framework”.

 

It noted progress from the government on critical areas, citing the decisions around airport expansion, airspace modernisation and policies to back the development of a domestic Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) industry as examples.

 

The recent UK-EU summit agreement also included important areas for travel, such as the commitment to explore a youth experience scheme.

 

The association, which marks its 75th anniversary this month, said one of the big challenges faced by businesses over the years has been where policy decision and initiatives take an unnecessarily long amount of time and make little headway.

 

The report has been published today (June 11) to coincide with the government’s Spending Review and Abta’s Travel Matters conference in London.

 

Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “This government has been clear that it wants to secure growth for the economy and towns and cities across the UK. With the Spending Review today, we’re urging the government to capitalise on the growth potential presented by outbound travel.

 

“One of the things that we are highlighting is the opportunity for the UK to be a leader in sustainable travel, recognising that the industry needs to grow in a responsible way.

 

“This means accelerating progress towards decarbonisation; something that can’t be done without the support of government.

 

“We’re also keen to remind government that the travel industry is an important facilitator of growth in other sectors, whether that’s through business travel and exports carried in passenger planes for example.”

 

In the report, Abta sets out three areas of policy development and recommendations:

• Ensuring the UK is a leader in sustainable travel – by embedding policies, such as the SAF mandate and Revenue Support Mechanism for aviation and investing in shoreside power at UK ports.
• Enabling UK travel businesses to compete in a global industry, by reviewing business rates to support  the high street, avoiding layering of taxes on tourism, and supporting educational and vocational routes into the sector.
• Enhancing UK-EU relations – by removing trade barriers with our largest travel market, such as difficulties in getting UK qualifications recognised, cooperating on new electronic border regimes, and agreeing a youth experience scheme as quickly as possible.