Travel brands are being encouraged to support a new non-profit aiming to provide 10,000 discounted holidays for essential workers.
Give Them A Break has been set up by a group of UK travel professions and aims to build a bank of 10,000 discounted holidays and attraction experiences.
The holidays will be made available to essential workers when the scheme is launched to the public early this month.
The scheme’s website will provide a directory of brands who have agreed to offer a selection of discounted holidays for key partners. Abercrombie & Kent, Alpharooms, Elegant Resorts, Intrepid Travel, Sanctuary Retreats, Teletext Holidays, Transindus, Travelbag, Travel Republic and USAirtours have already signed up to appear on the ‘partner’ page.
Visitors to the site will then be able to click on the relevant link for each brand, directing them to the company’s website where further information will be available.
Companies and individuals are also being invited to donate whatever they can afford to a public-facing fund. Money raised will be managed by the campaign’s charity partner, the Family Holiday Association, who will work with Give Them A Break to allocate holidays to essential workers and their families when travel restrictions ease.
Rachel McCaffery, who is leading the campaign and is also director of GreenCase Consulting, said: “While I was trying to get my head around the scale of this crisis, and thinking about my background in sustainable travel, it struck me I could bring those two things together; by finding a way to give something back to those risking their lives to treat the sick and keep the country running, and help to stimulate the tourism industry and save jobs by rebuilding confidence in travel.
“Give Them A Break is not about asking our industry friends and peers to give free holidays. “It’s about recognising that we work in the ‘industry of dreams’ and, whether frontline NHS staff or refuse collectors, our essential workers are probably right now dreaming of a holiday – and we’re in a position to help.
“So we’re calling on brands across the UK, from holiday camp operators or short haul specialists, right through to companies catering for the long haul market, to get involved and offer what they can to ‘Give Them A Break’.”