“Good morning, everyone.

On behalf of ABTA, welcome to this year’s Travel Matters conference! I’m sorry that the pandemic prevents our being together in person, but one of the upsides of video conferencing is that we can welcome our largest audience ever!  So, good morning to you all, wherever you may be!

We come together at the darkest hour in recent travel history. You don’t need me to tell you of the carnage wrought by the pandemic, and the devastating impact it continues to have on travel businesses and travel lives. At ABTA we see this up front and close with long-established Members failing or choosing to shut up shop, and heart-breaking stories of personal loss. They say the darkest hour is right before the dawn. This dawn has been a long time coming, and we desperately need to see day breaking soon.

The travel sector was the first to be impacted by the pandemic in 2020, and, as the domestic economy starts to recover, it looks certain to be the last to emerge from it. The Government’s own data show travel has been the sector hardest hit, with trading volumes down by 90% year on year.

We all had hopes that May 17th – the date for the supposed ‘safe restart of international travel’ – would mark the beginning of the most crucial summer season in living memory. But that was not to be. The Secretary of State for Transport said it would be travel but ‘not as you know it’. Well, that is certainly true! The only tourist destinations currently open on the Government Green list are Iceland and Gibraltar which – charming though they are – account for less than half of one percent of UK outbound tourism.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough, the Government has further damaged the immediate prospects for international travel by warning against leisure travel to Amber list countries, despite having its own system of testing and quarantining on return, adding another major customer disincentive to the hurdles that are already in place.

I was taken aback to see a statement in the recently published Tourism Recovery Plan, and I quote -

‘..various restrictions on overseas travel remain in place even now. The UK government wants to embrace this opportunity by boosting domestic demand, making domestic stays attractive and marketing the UK’s assets’.

Now, I wholeheartedly support the interests of the domestic tourism economy – indeed many of our Members actively sell it – but surely not at the expense of the outbound sector which supports over half a million jobs and contributes £37bn to the UK’s economy. And the language of ‘embracing an opportunity’ will be as a dagger to the heart of many travel agents and tour operators who are fighting for their very survival.

We had hoped to have the Minister for Aviation join us here today, but unfortunately he has withdrawn because of a late diary clash. I would have liked to ask him how, as a Member of Her Majesty’s Government, he justifies a position such as this, and, indeed, how he views the outbound sector more generally. His absence today – necessary as I’m sure it is – is nonetheless symbolic of a wide - in fact widening - gap between Government and the outbound travel sector. (I’m very grateful, by the way to Huw Merriman, Chairman of the Transport Select Committee, who has stepped in at short notice to give us his view of the current challenges, and the work of his Committee.)

I know that the pandemic has presented unprecedented political and financial challenges. There has been no lack of engagement from our side with Government throughout the pandemic. At every turn we have been there giving evidence of what is happening on the ground, and working on practical steps to get travel moving again. And yet at our hour of greatest need the Government seem intent on looking away.

In his 1960 Presidential campaign, John F Kennedy was known to say that the Chinese word for ‘crisis’ is composed of two symbols – the first denoting ‘Danger’ and the second denoting ‘ Opportunity’. This has been much quoted down the years, but checking it out at the weekend, I discovered in fact it’s not quite right. The first symbol does indeed represent ‘Danger’, but the second represents ‘Point of Change’ (I imagine that JFK, as a politician, was as prone to wishful thinking as are some of our leaders today).

This does perfectly capture where the travel industry is today – ‘ Danger’ and ‘Point of Change’.

The danger we face is here and now – the wolves are at the door. Every day counts in regaining this summer season - getting customers confident to book and to travel, and getting money into cash-starved businesses.

To get the point across visibly and vociferously, ABTA – together with fellow travel associations – has organised a Day of Action to take place tomorrow outside Parliament and in the Devolved Administrations. Travel professionals from across the UK will be presenting directly to MPs the extremity of the situation we face, and what we need from Government.  

The pandemic has brought together the many different parts of the travel sector into one united voice, to be carried through multiple media channels. The ‘Save Future Travel’ coalition has been working together for months now, and tomorrow brings together leisure and business travel, outbound and inbound, travel agents, tour operators, airlines and airports with a single, common cause.

Our asks of Government are straightforward: 

• We accept that - for now - there needs to be risk management at our borders to protect public health in the UK. But use the traffic light system as designed! And don’t overlay on it a further general and not understood warning against travel.
   
• Make the operation of the system transparent and consistent. The industry and customers have no idea how countries are moved from one category to the other, and the idea of a Green ‘watch list’ to give prior notice of changes was certainly not in evidence when the status of Portugal was changed ten days ago.
   
• Recognise that double vaccinated passengers have a different risk profile to non-vaccinated passengers, both in respect of infection and transmission. Other countries are ahead of us in this, as in many other respects. There have been press rumours that this will be recognised as part of first review of the system – due on 28th June – and we plead for this change as soon as possible.
   
• Extend crucial financial life-support mechanisms for the travel sector. The Chancellor seems bent on phasing out of furlough payments and business rates relief, but surely he must recognise that the travel sector has not yet even started its recovery trajectory. The investment he has already made – limited though it is - will be entirely wasted if these companies fail now. Job losses will mount around the country adding to pressure on the benefits system.

ABTA will continue to challenge the Government on political and moral grounds, and this is the focus of tomorrow’s Day of Action. Other countries have singled out travel as a special case in terms of revenue replacement grants, and that is what we are calling for now. Yes, it requires political courage to say we will support Sector A but not Sectors B, C and D. But that is the job.

So… We know the ‘Danger’ we are facing, and we know what’s needed to minimise the potential for lost businesses, jobs and livelihoods. What about the ‘Points of Change’?

Where to start?

It seems likely that the COVID pandemic will continue to evolve, and that other pandemics in the future are more likely as international mobility increases and connections multiply. Some of the things we have learned over the past fifteen months will help us if we – Government and the travel industry – work together to prepare and embed measures in advance. I mean things like rapid testing capability; mass vaccination programmes; international data sharing and risk assessment; standardised vaccination certificates.

It has been painful getting to where we are, and we are still deep in the woods. But it’s vital that the knowledge gained – of failures and successes – gets baked into our future travel health strategy.

The pandemic has put extreme pressure on the industry’s regulatory structure, especially in respect of protecting customer monies and paying refunds. We hope not to experience anything of this scale again, but the pandemic has shone a light on how and when money is collected, how it flows through the supply chain, and how it is, or is not protected.

The CAA has launched its own consultation on the future of the ATOL Scheme – and we look forward to hearing from the CAA Chairman, Sir Stephen Hillier shortly. There will be differing views on how the risk burden should be shared between customers and suppliers, but the consultation, and the promised future consultation on Airline Insolvency – surely present an opportunity to improve upon the patchwork system that we have now.

The pandemic has made us all deeply aware of how extended the travel supply chain is, and how mutually dependent we all are. The initial instinct to protect our own interests – even at the expense of our partners – has been destructive financially, and destructive of consumer confidence, on which we all depend. We need a transparent system where each player recognises and fulfils his or her obligations, and has in place the level of insurance or other cover appropriate to the risk being borne.

On a positive note –as I said a couple of minutes ago – the pandemic has brought together different and sometimes disparate parts of the travel sector – working and lobbying together on points of common interest. Long may this last! Of course, the priorities and desired outcomes of an international airline will differ from those of an independent travel retailer agent. But we have more in common – particularly at moments of crisis – than divides us.

As Travel Matters is a political and policy event, I will close with a heartfelt plea for political change. Outbound travel is by its nature, complex, and involves our interacting with many Government Departments – Transport, Treasury, Business, Home Office, FCDO, DCMS. We accept this, and are happy to put the resources into widespread engagement. But that does not mean we are content to be a political orphan. 

Clear accountability for the welfare of the outbound travel sector needs to be given to a designated Minister. Our economic contribution is weighty – (more money is spent in the UK by British citizens prior to travelling abroad than is spent by international visitors!)– and the job creation (or destruction) potential is huge.

I say to Government: put aside any misguided prejudices against outbound travel. We are are ready to work together. Show us that you are!

Thank you.”