Following the UK governments latest travel advice, regarding restrictions on travel for the Christmas holidays, ABTA and Advantage Travel Partnership have released official statements.
An ABTA spokesperson said, "ABTA has always maintained that public health must, of course, come first. But it is clear that travel businesses will need additional support to get through the next few weeks. More than nine months into this crisis, official statistics from the ONS already show that travel is the hardest hit service sector in the UK economy, worse than hospitality and other areas.?
?The latest restrictions on UK travellers entering some foreign countries shows the ongoing uncertainty around travel and the extremely difficult operating environment for UK travel businesses. Not only do the latest developments affect people?s ability to travel but also consumer confidence to plan and book future holidays," the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson further stated, "The Government must step in and provide tailored support for the travel sector ? in recognition of the number of jobs at risk and the important role the UK travel industry will play in supporting the UK?s wider economic recovery. The Scottish Government has already pledged tailored support for the travel industry, the UK Government and other devolved nations must follow suit without delay. We are writing to the Prime Minister today to raise this as a matter of urgency."
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO at Advantage Travel Partnership said, "Following today?s announcement that Christmas rules will be tightened across the UK and the introduction of Tier 4, it is unclear from the rules what travel agents should be advising their customers who are due to travel. We?ve already seen some operators and airlines making cancellations from London airports who we understand are in Tier 4 on the back of the Prime Minister announcing that travel abroad will not be allowed. We don't know if this means that all flights from London airports in Tier 4 will be cancelled or what position this leaves travellers in if their flight is still operating but they choose not to travel."
"As an industry we urgently need clarity on this, especially coming up to a period where many people were due to travel, both for holidays and to visit loved ones. Given that many people will be due to travel over the next few days from London airports, this new tier will cause absolute disarray for travellers and the industry which has already been decimated with nine months of hardship. What?s more, with non-essential retail shops in Tier 4 now being forced to close again under the new rules, this only further demonstrates that urgent support is needed for travel agents as recognised recently by the Scottish government on the back of lobbying by the SPAA. A targeted financial support package is desperately needed to save the travel industry, without which we will see more job losses and business failures," she added.
Image credit: Adobe Stock
