One of the questions I have been asked repeatedly in recent weeks is whether it will take a spate of company failures to prompt the government to respond to calls for assistance for the industry and offer some respite for those on the frontline.
So it was heartening to hear tourism minister Nigel Huddleston offering words of support this week and insisting talks are continuing at the highest level.
As former head of travel at Google, Huddleston understands the sector and the many challenges it faces. But in the absence of official statements from the departments of transport and business, a vacuum has been created where doubt is being cast on many agencies’ efforts to do the right thing by customers they have worked for years to nurture.
Some agents I have spoken to feel they are moving past the most difficult conversations with clients around refunds and are now able to offer a clearer picture of the options available and start to talk about retaining bookings. But there are still many who are crying out for official guidance that will help them communicate with customers and which they hope will also ease the growing threat of credit card chargebacks.
Nobody is naive enough to think the industry will escape company failures, which are sadly inevitable given the multiple threats posed by the global pandemic.
But many otherwise healthy companies will be desperately hoping that this week finally sees something concrete from Westminster to help them avoid that fate.
Lucy Huxley
Editor-in-chief, Travel Weekly
Comment from Travel Weekly April 30 edition, read online here
