A group of trade
bodies including the Business Travel Association and the Advantage Travel
Partnership has written to the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to call for the
creation of sector-specific recovery grants for businesses that are reliant on
international travel for their revenues, including travel management companies.
The Save Future
Travel Coalition has written to Sunak as well as the Foreign Office, and the
chair of the House of Commons transport committee, Huw Merriman, about the
support needed by the travel industry as travel reopens in the wake of the
global travel taskforce report.
In the letter to
the Chancellor, the coalition also called for the retention of the existing
furlough and self-employed income support schemes and the extension of full business rates relief for a minimum of
six-months from 17 May, with future reviews.
The coalition’s
letter to the Foreign Office stressed the need for urgent clarity on
the traffic-light system and for assurances that the government department's advice would only be used to manage
the risk to the individual in the destination country and not as part of prevention and control
measures of the virus in the UK.
The Save Future
Travel Coalition is made up of 15 leading travel bodies, including the BTA,
Advantage and ABTA.
Luke Petherbridge, ABTA’s
director of public affairs, said: “It is really important we continue to put
forward a consistent argument and approach to the UK Government, and devolved
nations, on the issues facing the sector and share our expert insight around
the restart of international travel.
“There is still a
number of unknowns around the Government’s plans for the restart and a lot of
detail missing.”