The Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said has warned the sector’s “euphoria around positive trading” could weaken its efforts to garner government support.
Opening this year’s annual conference in Benidorm, she told delegates the consortium’s ambition to ensure the travel sector was recognised as a key economic driver “hasn’t wavered”.
She cited a senior government official telling her they were surprised travel agents still existed.
“It’s not the first time we’ve heard this; it’s simply not an option to let people running the country think this way,” she said.
“Over the last year we have made some good progress – it’s a long road but our increased political engagement is enabling us to collectively work at influencing, making strong representations, building engagement, as well as being in a position that when we hit the next crisis – and we will, we will have built strong foundations for the UK outbound travel sector through increased collaboration and recognition.”
Lo Bue-Said stressed it was key to continue putting pressure on government to recognise the value of outbound travel despite a further interest rate rise failing to dent consumer spend on travel and a recent OnePoll survey commissioned by Advantage of 2,000 adults showing a third of respondents planned two holidays this year.
She said: “There is a risk that with the euphoria around a positive trading environment, that we create a view that the travel industry’s resilience is also its weakness when it comes to government recognition and support.
“Not only that but with a general election looming, we also run the risk of a government now making decisions based on the electorate going to the polls, and not on the needs of businesses, and this is exactly why we have not abated with our ambition to champion the industry with politicians and policy makers.”
The consortium has joined forces with The Specialist Travel Association (Aito) in the last year to form a lobbying arm to raise the industry’s profile, which has included the formation of an in-house member-led policy advisory group, and in recent weeks a toolkit has been launched to help members lobby their local MPs.
She added: “Do I believe the industry needs to increase its political engagement? Yes I do, 100%. Our industry was not looked after during Covid so, quite simply, I believe more needs to happen and change if we are to be looked after when we hit our next crisis.
“If we and our partners don’t invest more in this, once again pubs, theatres and other
sectors will be looked after, but we will be forgotten again.
“Our ambition to ensure the sector is recognised as a key economic driver hasn’t waivered.”