One year on from the Travel Day of Action, Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of the Advantage Travel Partnership, says the day brought the “entire industry together with the single aim of raising the plight of the travel industry” and says we now “need to strengthen our government engagement and deliver a clear narrative… in order to influence meaningful long-term change”
Julia Lo Bue-Said, Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “When we congregated at Westminster a year ago today, we brought the entire industry together with the single aim of raising the plight of the travel industry, the risk to its future, job losses and economic impact. The event was a mass lobby and proved successful in mobilising MPs to speak up for travel.
“A year on, there have been many lessons learnt, least of all that we need to put ourselves in a position of strength by improving our government engagement. We are already in the next crisis. There are many current challenges despite the surge in demand for international travel, and yet we have seen the devastation created when international travel is unable to function as intended given the extent of the moving parts involved.
“Importantly, this week we brought the industry together to discuss how this could be achieved as an Outbound travel initiative.
“An invite was extended to all parts of the sector, an inclusive process which enabled open debate under Chatham House Rule. It was clear from the discussion that there remains an appetite to consider how we improve our collective approach, as even today the travel industry is recognised as individual sectors. And, even then, not every aspect of Outbound travel is recognised for how it feeds into the value chain and its contribution to the economy, as well as the significant importance for consumers and business.
“We need to strengthen our government engagement and deliver a clear narrative on the overall value of the sector. We must also be bold and better at understanding what needs to happen in order to influence meaningful long-term change and improve how we engage and lobby government.
“Over the next few months, we will be working with the group to establish next steps and consider how we ensure the sector is in the best place to build its political engagement over and above what is existing across the industry today.”
