Representatives of organisations within the Future Travel Coalition met last week for the first time following the general election.
An in-person meeting took place at Abta’s office in central London, with other delegates joining via video call.
Organisers said topics discussed included coordinating engagement with new MPs to emphasise the value of the industry and to help them understand the travel supply chain.
The Future Travel Coalition was originally set up during the Covid-19 pandemic in an effort to coordinate government liaison and lobbying across a range of industry bodies and now meets every other month.
Its members included representatives from the outbound and inbound sectors and both the leisure and corporate travel sectors, as well as organisations which liaise with devolved administrations.
Abta director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge said: “It was great to get together with colleagues from the Future Travel Coalition to talk about how we can maximise opportunities to engage with new MPs and the new government.
“We discussed the importance of working together to demonstrate the value of the industry and emphasising the interdependency between, outbound, inbound and domestic tourism, and how businesses across all parts of the industry add billions of pounds to the UK economy and support millions of jobs.”
UKinbound chief executive Joss Croft added: “There are 335 new MPs taking a seat in Parliament, so it is incumbent upon us all to work to help them understand the value of our sectors.
“The meeting was a good opportunity to understand different trade bodies’ plans and how we can work to support each other’s activities for the benefit of the sector overall.
“Many of our challenges are the same and if the inbound tourism industry is to thrive, we need a successful outbound industry and vice versa.”
Charles Owen, managing director of Seasonal Businesses in Travel (SBIT) said: “We are in a period of huge political change, both at home and abroad, so it is vital the UK travel industry is aligned in its messaging and can speak with one voice.
“The Future Travel Coalition has been working together for four years now, so we’re in a good position to continue that work on behalf of the whole travel industry.”