Industry leaders have vowed to maintain lobbying pressure on government to support the sector despite all UK Covid travel restrictions having been swept away.
Partners within the Save Future Travel Coalition have agreed to keep working together as the Future Travel Coalition.
Participants said the name change reflects that the industry is now in a recovery phase following the impact of the pandemic and a longer-term commitment to keep working together to promote the interests of the travel industry.
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The 16-strong group will continue to work together on shared lobbying goals and challenges, both relating to the pandemic and other policy priorities, to ensure a co-ordinated industry voice and message to government.
Partners meet every month with recent joint activity including an industry survey to monitor bookings trends and challenges within the UK travel industry, with evidence to be shared with officials and ministers.
The Save Future Travel Coalition was created in summer 2020 to ensure a consistent and co-ordinated voice during the pandemic.
Abta public affairs director Luke Petherbridge said: “The Coalition has been an invaluable forum throughout the pandemic to enable the industry to share insights and coordinate our lobbying messaging and asks.
“Throughout the pandemic we’ve been able to gather and disseminate evidence on the latest situation facing the travel sector, and we’ve come together on a number of joint lobbying initiatives.
“Continuing our work together into the future will ensure we continue to exchange intelligence, co-ordinate messaging and add our combined weight to our arguments and lobbying asks.
“From the outset it was clear the Coalition was something that would have value beyond the pandemic. Changing the name reflects that the industry is now in the recovery phase and is a sign of our joint commitment to build on the progress we’ve made in improving cross-industry lobbying collaboration.”
Scottish Passengers Agents’ Association president Mike Tibbert pointed out: “The governments within the UK have taken different approaches throughout the pandemic so it has been extremely helpful to be able to work together, sharing knowledge and updates, and combining our efforts to bring about change on behalf of all of our members and work towards a four-nation approach. We’re keen to continue to work together this way in the future.”
UKinbound chief executive Joss Croft added: “Outbound and inbound travel have experienced similar challenges throughout the pandemic so it has been good to be able to work collectively to address them.
“There are issues outside of the pandemic including around employing UK staff in the EU and vice versa now that we’re no longer in the European Union, again, being able to tackle these together adds weight to our efforts.”
Organisations involved in the Future Travel Coalition are:
- Abta
- Aito
- Advantage Travel Partnership
- African Travel & Tourism Association
- Association of Northern Ireland Travel Agents
- Association of Touring and Adventure Suppliers
- The Business Travel Association
- Cruise Lines International Association UK & Ireland
- Keep Travel Alive
- Latin American Travel Association
- Pacific Asia Travel Association
- Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association
- Seasonal Businesses in Travel
- The Travel Network Group
- UKinbound
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