The Scottish government has allocated a further £2.4 million in recovery funding to the outbound travel sector – adding to the £3.5 million announced last month.
The government confirmed the additional boost in a statement on Monday morning, when it also announced that a £3 million fund for revitalising city centres would double to £6 million.
Abta hailed the move and said it looked forward to seeing how the funding would be allocated.
Luke Petherbridge, the assocation’s director of public affairs, said: “We welcome this morning’s announcement of a further £2.4m in funding for the Scottish outbound travel sector.
“It is a very positive move for our Scottish members and follows highly productive and positive meetings we have held with Scottish government ministers and officials over recent weeks.
“This brings the total of new funding available to the outbound sector north of the border to £5.9m. Abta has been arguing for the funding to benefit as many travel businesses as possible, and we look forward to shortly seeing more details on how the funding will be allocated.”
Mike Tibbert, president of the SPAA, said: “Today’s announcement is hugely welcomed by, and very much necessary for, our industry.
“The outbound travel sector is complex and has a financial model unlike any other industry. Travel agents only receive revenue when the passenger actually departs on a trip and there is a long-standing tradition of home workers.
“We look forward to hearing details of how this additional support will be apportioned and we sincerely hope that our home-working colleagues who have often been overlooked in funding packages which relied on businesses having a business premises, will be entitled to their share of support after almost two long years of struggle.
“We are grateful to the Scottish government for listening and acting on our organisation’s activity in communicating the unique difficulties which we have faced.”
Jacqueline Dobson, president of Barrhead Travel and SPAA vice-president, said: “The allocation of additional funding for the Scottish outbound travel industry will further stabilise recovery for many businesses on the high street.
“It is a relief to see that the Scottish government is acknowledging the severe loss of revenue that travel businesses have endured over the last two years. The funding will provide meaningful support ahead of summer 2022, where most businesses are seeing the volume of departures.
“International travel is on track for a strong summer and we look forward to continuing to engage with the Scottish government on our industry’s progress over the coming months.”
Abta previously described the £3.5 million allocation as the Scottish government “catching up” after not offering any support following the emergence of the Omicron variant, though it welcomed the fact the pot was sector-specific.
Expectations of similar aid in Northern Ireland were dashed in recent weeks by political upheaval and the collapse of the executive over the Irish border issue.