09 Sep
2021

Keeping the pressure up

The traffic light system has failed to deliver a meaningful restart to international travel resulting in a lost summer for many travel businesses. We are continuing to put pressure on the Government to allow travel to open up and businesses to start a recovery, as well as provide financial support to help us through this critical time. Next week we will be having another big push on our lobbying and communications activity, with opportunities for Members to get involved.
 
With the Government’s strategic review of international travel due on 1 October, furlough coming to an end and the Autumn Statement on the horizon, we’ll be engaging with Ministers, MPs and media, using the findings from the current ABTA Member survey on how recent events have affected your business, to highlight the detrimental impact that travel restrictions have had on our sector. We’ll also reiterate the essential changes needed to international travel requirements in order to open up the market.
 
In order to amplify our lobbying and media work next week, there are a number of ways we’re encouraging Members to get involved.
 
Firstly, if you haven’t already, please do complete the Member survey we circulated last Friday by close of play tomorrow – there are details of how to do so in ABTA Today. Secondly, we’ll also be asking Members to use our updated template letters to write to your MP or devolved representative so they can make the case for the industry on your behalf. As well as offering guidance on how to impress on them the impact of the pandemic, these letters will also explain what we need to see from the Government at the next strategic review in terms of lifting restrictions. They also make the case for sector specific support for the travel industry.
 
Finally, we’re creating a series of designed digital assets that sum up the current situation for travel businesses and drive home our latest asks to Government. As well as sharing these assets with MPs and the media, we’ll be posting them on our social media channels and encouraging our Members to do so too. We’re also conducting a Twitterstorm at 14:00 on Tuesday 14 September and will be sharing full details of the tweet – and how Members can get involved in our lobbying plans next week – in an ABTA Today special on Tuesday morning.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive