International travel supporting national and regional economies

You’ll know from your conversations with customers how important their holidays are to them but, as ABTA’s new research shows, the value of travel goes beyond that, providing jobs and contributing to economies across the UK.  

ABTA’s latest figures on the value of international travel, collated in partnership with UKinbound, show that, together, outbound and inbound travel generate £88.5bn for the UK economy each year. On top of that they support 1.4 million jobs.

As we report in our new publication, international travel brings money and jobs to communities across the UK and hence is a strong example of an industry providing both a national and regional contribution.

We’re releasing these findings ahead of the Labour Party Conference, where we will be hosting a reception with UKinbound to discuss these findings with politicians and to reiterate what we need from the government to support the sector.

This government has been very clear that it wants all parts of the UK to prosper; our report shows travel is already helping to make that happen. There is also potential to go further, providing the right policy framework is put in place. This will be an important part of our message to Labour politicians this weekend.

As well as sharing the international travel figures, we’re also working on an additional report which focuses on the role of outbound travel, which will be released in October. Making the case for our sector supports members by demonstrating to politicians the impact your business has on the local and national economies and supports our arguments for policy changes that help the industry thrive.

You can read ABTA’s current asks to the Government in ABTA’s Budget submission.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive