Pictured left to right: Dawson & Sanderson travel consultants Laila Hendry, Ian Mcewan, Steven Allan, Ivan Carter with Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central, and the agency’s regional manager Donna Jobling.
More than 30 MPs have agreed to visit travel agencies in a joint lobbying effort between the Advantage Travel Partnership and Aito to support the outbound travel sector.
Invitations were issued to all UK parliamentarians to visit shops and offices of the travel businesses in the constituencies in which the organisations’ members are located.
More than 330 invitations were sent to MPs, and visits have already taken place with local travel businesses, including Dame Rosie Winterton, MP for Doncaster Central, who visited Dawson & Sanderson.
More: Advantage and Aito ‘engage’ with government over sector’s challenges [Feb 23]
Advantage and Aito create lobbying partnership [Oct 22]
Andrew Stephenson, MP for Pendle, visited Althams Travel in Clitheroe, and Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and shadow minister for science, research & innovation, visited Dawson & Sanderson in Newcastle.
The visits coincided with both travel associations providing support to travellers affected by wildfires in Rhodes and Corfu.
Requests for future visits have been forthcoming from 30 more MPs and these will be fulfilled in August and September.
Dame Rosie said: “I know that many of my constituents really value being able to go to a high street travel agent to talk about their holiday options and get good advice on what to book. Travel agencies are an asset to our city and play a big part in getting people into the city centre and the knock-on effect that has on other shops.”
The activity is a central part of a UK Outbound Travel Think Tank initiative launched in October, which is supporting a wide spectrum of political and policy engagement work.
Aito director Noel Josephides said: “Aito has invested a considerable amount of time and effort over many years in terms of lobbying MPs and also in encouraging Aito members to engage with their MPs to give them key facts about the travel industry, but this joint effort with Advantage is really delivering well.
“The travel sector has not only saved the UK from recession, according to the Office for National Statistics, but we are also responsible for creating a massive surge in consumer retail spend prior to going on holiday.
£51 billion pre-holiday spend
“Jointly, the outbound travel sector drives consumer pre-holiday spend to the value of £51 billion in terms of hairdressing, beauty treatments, new clothes, exercise classes, essentials from the chemist such as suntan cream and much, much more.
“Such figures are hugely powerful in terms of the most basic economic arguments, and they matter to government.
“It is our joint responsibility to ensure that every MP across the land – many of whom are, of course, ministers of state – knows just how important the whole travel industry is – not just airlines – and that they recognise how little assistance they have provided us with in the past.
“The time has come for them to rate the travel industry as hugely important in terms of economic delivery to the country. We need to shout it from the rooftops – and the briefing documents provided by Aito and the Advantage Travel Partnership enable every one of us to do this with confidence.”
Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said said: “We have been delighted with the response from MPs who want to visit our member businesses, and those members who have already had visits have said how beneficial they found them.
“Since launching our joint MP Engagement Programme initiative, we have seen a notable increase in engagement with the government and with other influential policymakers.
“We are working hard to increase the overall visibility and awareness of the UK outbound travel sector across Westminster, and these visits to members by their local MPs form a critical part of this work.
“Many of the MPs we have spoken to were not aware of their local travel businesses, nor have they had the opportunity to meet them in the past. We are therefore really pleased with the level of engagement we have secured through the launch of this programme so far, and will be ensuring that we maximise the number of MP visits to our travel businesses over the coming months.
“By illustrating to MPs how outbound travel businesses are central pillars of their local business communities, we are building a strong caucus of supporters in Parliament. This should strengthen considerably our case for the industry to receive better ministerial representation, while also reminding those in power what a massive economic contribution the travel sector delivers to UK PLC and to the overall economy.
“Our efforts to get more industry players involved with our activity is on-going. We are in the process of having positive conversations with a number of key travel brands and associations and are keen for others to join our Think Tank collaboration so that we can make further – and faster – progress.”
More: Advantage and Aito ‘engage’ with government over sector’s challenges [February 23]
Advantage and Aito create lobbying partnership [October 22]