Cherie Booth, high-profile lawyer and wife of former UK prime minister Tony Blair, has admitted the UK authorities could listen more to the travel industry.
During a short question and answer session following her keynote speech at the ITT Conference in Dubai, Booth said there were times during her husband’s reign in office when senior officials would need prompting over issues affecting the travel sector.
Following a question from the audience regarding her views on Air Passenger Duty and taxation of the industry, Booth failed to respond directly but said: “The government does sometimes need a bit of a prod to highlight the things you do.”
The government has come under heavy fire from the industry and consumers over its introduction of APD.
For more news on ITT go to www.travelweekly.co.uk/ITT2009.