The travel industry is still feeling the effects of government pandemic travel curbs heavily criticised by the public accounts committee, according to Abta.
Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said also reacted to the report into the Covid traffic light system and quarantine measures, describing the government’s response to Covid-19 as “a kick in the teeth for everyone connected to the travel industry”.
She took to Twitter, adding: “Many businesses continue to face hardship due to shambolic travel measures, inadequate support, particularly travel agents and travellers who were ripped off for no good reason.”
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “The UK’s restrictions throughout the pandemic brought travel to a standstill, hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and livelihoods, and the industry is still feeling the effects of these policies.
“Protecting public health is the ultimate priority when in a pandemic but the measures put in place need to be backed up by evidence and proportionate to the risk.
“It’s important government learns the lessons from the last couple of years and has a sensible and evidence-based approach to dealing with any future variants or pandemics, and has a system of financial support in place for businesses.”
The responses came after MPs on the public accounts committee questioned whether the the almost £500 million cost of the traffic light system was worth the disruption caused.
Its report into managing cross-border travel during the pandemic found that ministers changed the rules at least 10 times between February 2021 and January 2022, but gave the travel industry little time to adapt its operations for those changes.
A kick in the teeth for everyone connected to the travel industry. Many businesses continue to face hardship due to shambolic travel measures, inadequate support particularly travel agents and travellers who were ripped off for no good reason. https://t.co/TpGq0fgBYx
— Julia Lo Bue-Said (@jlo_said) July 26, 2022
Lo Bue-Said commented: “For my members – and for travel agents across the country – it has long been clear that these draconian measures were not worth the disruption caused, nor were they worth the irreversible damage wreaked upon the livelihoods of travel agents.
“Figures from our recent Business Impact Survey show that 60% of our members still have an outstanding government loan to pay from the pandemic and at the same time, over 90% say that their operating costs have increased by up to 50% in the past six months.
“In total, 92% of respondents think that the outbound travel sector needs greater support from across the political spectrum and I couldn’t agree more.
“Throughout the pandemic, we tirelessly lobbied the UK government for further industry support given the two-year unnecessary travel turmoil, and that need has not gone away with the end of the restrictions.
“The effects are still being felt by thousands of small businesses across the UK and will continue to be felt for many more years to come. That is why it’s our mission to keep on raising the profile for our industry and demonstrating the significant economic and social value of the entire travel ecosystem including travel agents, not only to their local communities but also to the whole of the UK.”
Clive Wratten, chief executive of the Business Travel Association, commented: “Frictionless travel is vital if the UK economy is to trade efficiently and it is galling to hear that the effects of the government’s constantly changing travel restrictions are unclear.
“By taking this contested approach, the government caused long-lasting damage to the business travel sector and drove an exodus of skilled talent from it.”