SPAA president Mike Tibbert calls on governments to aid sector as challenging period looms
Awards season is always a positive time for our members and travel professionals across Scotland. Our new Sparkle Awards – the Golden Globes of our calendar – were held for the first time last week in Edinburgh.
The Golden Globes recognise excellence in international film and television, but at the Sparkle Awards we honoured 10 frontline individuals from across the country in categories ranging from agency support to cruise consultant of the year.
It was a hugely successful event and reminded us of the pre-pandemic days, not to mention just how gregarious our industry is!
Our attention now turns to our Oscars: the SPAA Annual Awards at the Doubletree in Glasgow on Thursday, November 3. Voting is now open for the companies, suppliers and agencies who will be honoured at our gala dinner.
We’re known as a sector that enjoys a good night out among colleagues and peers, but there are more-important issues at stake than the red carpet fashion we’ll undoubtedly see.
More than ever, we need to identify and reward excellence in our industry, which has suffered so many blows in recent years. We need to show that travel is a desirable sector to work in – a sector that continually raises standards of product and service as well as being one at the forefront of sustainability.
We had hoped that by late 2022 we could look back on the challenges we have all faced since March 2020 and look forward to a bright future.
And indeed there has been good news in terms of the leisure travel pick-up this summer.
Uncertain future
However, we seem to be living in a period of uncertainty, with insecurity over rising business costs and questions over whether the public will prioritise travel as they navigate their way through ever-rising inflation.
There’s also uncertainty about a return to pre-pandemic business travel levels in a world that has become used to, if not comfortable with, Zoom.
We’re capitalising on the relationships we built with both the Scottish and UK governments during the pandemic to gain support for our members.
Currently, we’re in talks with the Holyrood government about additional help for SPAA members who face spiralling running costs.
We have to remember that agencies are still fighting to reach 2019 levels of income; struggling with massively increased admin around endless flight changes and re-bookings; and making repayments on their pandemic borrowings.
All of this is taking place against a backdrop still influenced by the Brexit fallout, strikes and staff shortages across the industry, not forgetting the Scottish government’s commitment to be a net zero nation by 2045.
Crystal ball-gazing
The SPAA is also a key player in drafting the cross-party group report for presentation to the Scottish government on recovery and the future of Scottish aviation sector bases on both outbound and inbound travel and tourism.
We all know that crystal ball-gazing is an improper science, but a look into the future brings other concerns into focus. One of our main concerns is the lack of Scottish connectivity via Heathrow, while capacity levels for 2023 are also predicted to be an issue.
Transport Scotland’s aim is to achieve similar levels of global connectivity as leading peer nations and regions, with the ultimate aim of being able to travel between Scotland and any major city in the world either directly or with, at most, only one stop.
Such improvements in international connectivity support Scottish business and stimulate new markets for inbound tourism, and give a firm foundation for the growth of international outbound travel.
It’s right that the world’s oldest organisation representing travel agents is at the forefront of discussions on how we ensure high levels of connectivity and invest in route development, while identifying sustainable approaches to this.