ABTA Chief Executive Mark Tanzer has welcomed the Chancellor’s Winter Economy Plan, but said ABTA would continue to urge the government to “do all it can to ensure travel businesses are supported through the crisis”.
Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA – The Travel Association said: “Since the start of the pandemic we have been stressing to the Government the unique challenges the crisis has created for the UK travel industry and the toll it has taken on jobs and businesses.
We welcome today’s announcements from the Chancellor regarding ongoing salary support and renewed business support measures, which are an important part of ABTA’s plan to Save Future Travel and support travel businesses through the difficult winter season ahead. We await the full details of today’s announcements in order to truly assess what this will mean for travel businesses going forward.
“The Chancellor spoke today about the desire of people to get back to doing the things that enrich our lives, which clearly includes the ability to travel – whether for holidays, to conduct business, or to see family and friends.
“ABTA will continue to urge the Government to do all it can to ensure travel businesses are supported through the crisis, and that the maximum number of jobs can be retained in our industry. In addition to the financial support measures outlined, we also need to see progress on the full regionalisation of the Government’s quarantine policy, as well as the introduction of testing to reopen the UK’s links with countries around the world.
“Getting those measures in place as quickly as possible is vital to boost confidence in travel, and that will be critical to the survival of many travel companies. We also believe that the Chancellor should consider an APD cut ahead of next summer to incentivise people to book their well-deserved holidays in 2021.”
