Sector-specific support for travel is unlikely to be forthcoming but the industry should still lobby for it as it will force a conversation on relaxing the rules, says the chairman of Abta.
Alistair Rowland told a Travel Weekly webcast: “The big call has got to be to change the rules or offer some specific support. We haven’t seen either.”
He said he was not confident the UK government would give travel any financial support, but said lobbying up to now “probably does mean that there’ll be a sensible conversation in government about the rules”.
“If we can start to build our own momentum around the new rules to keep everybody safe, but allow passengers that want to travel to travel, that would be good,” said Rowland.
“We [At Blue Bay Travel] have a load of seasoned travellers to the Caribbean. They’re cash-rich and time-rich, they want to go and they know there are rules and testing, and they still want to go.
“It’s those guys that we need to get away because they’re prepared to go away and we just need to make it as easy as possible for them.
“The difference this time is that if there’s no support forthcoming, [and] they don’t want to open that door again, there needs to be a change to the rules. And I think this time they do recognise that.”
Rowland had been hoping for a change to the testing rules this side of Christmas, but the government announced on Tuesday it would not review the rules until January 5.
Rowland said he is concerned over loss of cash flow for many businesses.
“I was hoping that something would happen this side of Christmas, to give everyone a chance to plan for the first quarter [of 2022], particularly if it’s a first quarter without any usable cash because nobody’s going to be booking anything in the very short term,” he said.
But he was confident agents that have made it through the last two years could hang on a little longer.
“I’m sure we can get through a couple more months by finding a way,” he said. “But it’s particularly difficult because they’re desperate for cash for the current winter season.
“The fact that there have been less than 50 failures so far shows the resilience of the industry. It’s really hard if you’re living off government cash; off the CBILs (Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme) loan. You’re not going to allow the business to fail, but you can’t be without cash forever.”
Separately, Ian Bell, head of travel and tourism at audit, tax and consulting firm RSM, said removing all the countries from the red list is a “positive step for the travel industry” but warned it is “probably not enough to reverse the damage to consumer confidence that the short notice reintroduction of the red list and extra testing has had”.
He noted the move had “hit pre-Christmas travel plans and bookings” as “consumers feared that disruption could impact on their Christmas celebrations – especially after last year’s restrictions”.
Bell suggested the government bear the cost of testing for travel in time for the peak booking season in January.
He added: “Understandably the government needs to take swift action, but these knee-jerk changes in policy not only undermine consumer confidence but they have a wider knock-on effect within the travel industry which has been hardest hit throughout the pandemic.
“Despite being remarkably resilient, the travel industry cannot continue to be the victim of policy decisions without the government recognising the unique issues the industry is facing and the need for tailored financial support.”