The Advantage Travel Partnership’s Julia Lo Bue-Said urges the outbound sector to collaborate and advocate for the industry
This week marks five years since the first pandemic lockdown.
March 2020 began the most challenging period on record for the UK outbound travel industry – a total apocalypse.
International travel closed, aircraft stood grounded, families and loved ones were separated, operations halted and thousands of workers furloughed.
The subsequent recovery has been remarkable.
When travel bans lifted, pent-up demand surged, with our sector demonstrating extraordinary resilience and growth.
Yet reflecting on this apocalyptic scenario, having lived and worked through this fateful time, what lessons have we truly learned?
What are we doing differently as a UK outbound travel industry?
Despite the unprecedented disruption, have we as industry leaders invested in establishing the proactive lobbying mechanisms we identified as woefully lacking in 2020 – mechanisms needed to future-proof against potential health emergencies or geopolitical disruptions?
In 2020, the pandemic’s impact on UK outbound travel was catastrophic, particularly for small businesses.
Independent travel agencies and tour operators faced extended periods with zero income while managing significant overhead costs.
Many family-owned businesses built over decades struggled to survive.
A critical failing was our inability to effectively communicate the sector’s economic significance to policymakers.
While other economic sectors received recognition for their fiscal contribution, the UK outbound travel sector – supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and delivering billions to the UK economy – remained poorly understood in Westminster.
Our complex ecosystem lacking adequate representation and unable to clearly articulated its value.
Unlike other industries that secured contingency frameworks for future crises, the travel sector has not obtained government commitments regarding proportionate emergency responses.
We remain at risk of being an early casualty in any similar crisis, without guaranteed protection mechanisms.
I have been asked to contribute to the Covid-19 public inquiry addressing the impact of restrictions on the travel industry.
This platform will allow me to highlight how poorly governments understood tourism’s economic significance and operational realities.
Our collaborative efforts with the formation of the UK Outbound Travel Group are helping to overcome these challenges, and in recent months we have successfully recruited more members with a shared vision.
However, if we are going to ensure that we successfully future-proof our sector through education and amplification we will require more members to join our activity.
Without adequate resources, we cannot maintain the consistent government engagement necessary to secure recognition of our industry’s vital economic contribution.
The lessons of the pandemic are clear: when crisis strikes, only sectors with established channels of influence and clear economic narratives receive timely support and proportionate treatment.
By strengthening our collective voice now, we can ensure the UK outbound travel industry never again faces existential threats without the ability to advocate effectively for its survival and the livelihoods of the thousands who depend on it.
I urge all stakeholders across our diverse industry to contribute to this critical work before the hard-won lessons of the past five years fade from memory.
Collaboration is key, so let’s face these challenges together to ensure our industry continues to thrive.