As a new PM and ministerial teams come in, we continue to represent our members

Over time, it’s inevitable that Government policy evolves and the ministers deciding it change. Those changes feel more frequent, now that we have our seventh Prime Minister in just over 10 years, even though the civil servants charged with delivering policy remain more constant.

That’s why we’ll be contacting all relevant new ministers over the next few weeks, organising an active programme of member visits with MPs over the summer and, together with UKInbound, hosting a reception at the Labour Party conference in September.

This programme will be in addition to continuing activity with civil servants, advisors and Government bodies – much of this work will be behind the scenes, but is no less important.

Of course, being active - in the last Parliamentary year, ABTA engaged with more than 250 MPs and Lords - does not automatically mean getting the results one wants. Politics and policymaking are complex, influencing is a long game, and we are one of many sectors seeking to have our views heard.

But, if you’re not ‘in the room’ with decision makers, you won’t get very far. 

I was pleased to see this week that some of our most relevant ministers, such as the Secretary of State for Transport, remain in post and we can continue to build on our work with them. Where there are new ministers, who may be less familiar with our sector, we will be developing new relationships with them and their political advisers, knowing that the civil servants we already have dialogue with remain largely the same.

So too do the issues. We will continue to represent members in the review of the Package Travel Regulations, the development of a new Tourism Growth Strategy, the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), decarbonisation, the proposed English visitor levy and progress towards enhanced UK-EU relations, including a youth experience agreement.

Real influence comes when there is a balanced and sustained public affairs programme. As the UK’s next Prime Minister starts work, we will continue ours.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive