ABTA Ltd.

09/14/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/14/2021 00:32

ABTA calls on Members and wider travel industry to get behind latest lobbying push

Activity includes a Twitterstorm at 2pm on Tuesday 14th September

With the Government's strategic review of international travel requirements by 1 October and the end of furlough just a few weeks away, ABTA is keeping up the pressure on the Government to put the right framework in place to get people travelling again, kickstart the industry's recovery and provide urgent financial support.

Using the findings from its latest Member survey on the impact of the pandemic, ABTA has written to the Chancellor and Transport Secretary - and is further engaging with Ministers, MPs and media this week - to highlight the devastating impact the UK's travel requirements have had on the industry's ability to trade this summer. The Association is calling for a significant overhaul of the traffic light system so travel businesses can trade their way out of this crisis, and also emphasising the ongoing need for tailored financial support.

ABTA is encouraging its Members and the wider industry to get involved in this week's lobbying and communications efforts to help drive home the essential changes needed to save jobs and businesses within the industry by:

Taking part in ABTA's Twitterstorm at 2pm on Tuesday 14 September by sharing the following tweets separately and one after the other, retweeting industry colleagues as much as possible to ensure the posts and assets are shared widely:

  • Another lost summer - @grantshapps now needs to deliver a plan to restart the #travelindustry - capitalising on the #covid19 vaccine rollout and removing widespread PCR tests. #savefuturetravel (Share this copy with ABTA's Route to recovery social asset)
  • The Government's travel policy has cost us a summer of trade. @RishiSunak - we need tailored financial support to save jobs and businesses, and to boost the UK's economic recovery #savefuturetravel #furloughends #Ukeconomy #traveltrade (Share this copy with ABTA's Counting the Cost social asset)

Sharing content on social media - ABTA has created a series of designed digital assets to share on social media that sum up the current situation for travel businesses and drive home these latest asks to Government. ABTA is asking travel businesses to share these assets on their Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter channels and for the Twitterstorm at 2pm.

Writing to your MP - One of the most important ways that travel agents and tour operators can get involved is by using ABTA's updated template letters to write to their MP or devolved representative to ask them to make the case for the industry on their behalf. These templates offer guidance on how to explain how their businesses have been affected by the pandemic, include the latest figures from the ABTA Member survey and outline what the industry needs to see from the Government at the next strategic review.

The template letters and designed assets are all available to download from Tuesday 14 September at www.abta.com/savefuturetravel.

Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA - The Travel Association said:
'We must use our collective influence to get the Government to use October's strategic review to reopen more destinations and get more people travelling again.

'To help us exert pressure and hammer home the essential changes needed at the review, we're calling on our Members and all parts of the travel industry to join our Twitterstorm at 2pm today and write to their MPs this week about the challenges facing the industry. There are also new assets available to share on social media to spread the message even further.'

Notes to editors

ABTA has been a trusted travel brand for over 70 years. Our purpose is to help our Members to grow their businesses successfully and sustainably, and to help their customers travel with confidence. The ABTA brand stands for support, protection and expertise. This means consumers have confidence in ABTA and a strong trust in ABTA Members. These qualities are core to us as they ensure that holidaymakers remain confident in the holiday products that they buy from our Members.

We help our Members and their customers navigate through today's changing travel landscape by raising standards in the industry; offering schemes of financial protection; providing an independent complaints resolution service should something go wrong; giving guidance on issues from sustainability to health and safety and by presenting a united voice to government to ensure the industry and the public get a fair deal.

ABTA has more than 4,300 travel brands in Membership, providing a wide range of leisure and business travel services, with a combined annual UK turnover of £39 billion. For more details about what we do, what being an ABTA Member means and how we help the British public travel with confidence visit www.abta.com.