Northern Ireland’s travel trade industry is hoping to make its mark with the UK government as representatives travel to the House of Commons this month (June).
Hosted by the UK Outbound Group during its inaugural Westminster reception, ANITA (Association of Northern Ireland Travel Agents) co-chair Damian Murphy and Sharon Thompson will be in attendance on 16th June in an attempt to encourage government support and recognition for the industry here.
Sharon has been liaising with Carla Lockhart MP, and they have both written to Dr Caoimhe Archibald MLA (Minister for the Economy, NI) and Mr Hilary Benn MP (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland) previously to generate support for the industry.
Murphy highlighted ‘particular concern’ for the “absence of clear departmental ownership with responsibility for outbound travel appearing to fall between the Executive Committee and the Department, resulting in a lack of decisive action.”
He continued,
“This is despite numerous requests and meetings. Going forward we would like to see a clear path that we can take, particularly in times of crisis, for support and we would like to know why we are seemingly being ignored, given the importance that independent travel agents play in the wider NI tourism ecosystem. I will also be asking the Secretary of State to clarify exactly what happened to the second round of support we were promised and which suddenly disappeared when the Northenr Ireland Executive collapsed.”
ANITA has been calling for support for the industry since COVID times, calling for matching support to the rest of the UK and Ireland since 2021.
Damian ended,
“I would like to thank Julia Lo Bue–Said at the Advantage Travel Partnership for the chance to attend this event and to hopefully enable me to raise our concerns with as many decision makers as possible.”
