Britains largest independent agent consortium has teamed up with The Specialist Travel Association to draw attention to the major issues facing UK agents.
The Advantage Travel Partnership and AITO (The Specialist Travel Association) have formed a partnership to raise the profile of the UK outbound travel industry and draw political attention to the major issues facing its members.
Uniting Advantage's 700+ leisure and business travel agents with 270 brands from AITO's operators, the partnership will establish a lobbying group focusing on the smaller businesses in the UK's outbound travel sector.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO, The Advantage Travel Partnership, says: “I am delighted to be joining forces with AITO and its SMEs, to take forward our vision and to support our combined memberships as the industry continues to face serious challenges.
"I believe that improving Government’s understanding of the outbound travel sector and raising the industry’s profile is crucial in ensuring that policymakers have the key facts in order to make informed decisions.”
The choice comes from 90% of respondents saying they feel underrepresented in terms of lobbying, and that joining forces with AITO would enhance both organisations' platforms.
Commenting on behalf of AITO, Chris Rowles, chairman, says: “We are delighted to link with Advantage with the aim of joint Government lobbying. We share not only similar values, but we suffer from similar problems – sheer lack of clout with Government being one of them.
“During the pandemic, AITO worked very hard to gets its key messages into the many relevant Government departments – unfortunately, with limited effect. We believe that joining forces with Advantage will help both organisations to deliver relevant facts to Government that relate to the important SME sector – the lifeblood of the travel industry – and to ensure that we are recognised by the various Government Departments that control our future.”
