Leading travel association ABTA has revealed that 39,000 jobs have already been lost or placed at risk across the outbound travel sector since the Covid-19 crisis started as it renews its Save Future Travel’ campaign, first launched in April.

When supply chains are also considered, this number amounts to more than 90,000 people affected.

According to the survey, 18 per cent of jobs in outbound travel have already been lost or placed at risk.

The situation is set to worsen with 78 per cent of businesses yet to enter redundancy conversations expecting to do so in coming months based on current trading conditions.

In its bid to ‘save future travel’, ABTA has today (24 August) written to chanceller Rishi Sunak setting a five-point plan to build consumer confidence and save jobs in the industry.

ABTA’s plan is to:

1. Regionalise quarantine: moving to a regionalised quarantine and Foreign Office travel advice policy will provide additional certainty for businesses and consumers
2. Introduce testing: a testing regime will enable travel to resume to major global trading partners and mitigate the risk of infection from high risk countries
3. Grant an APD holiday: to boost demand for travel, including Summer holidays in 2021
4. Provide recovery grants and other business support measures: travel agents, the vast majority of whom are SMEs, receive the majority of their income through commission that is paid on the departure, so these businesses will need support to get them through to the next major travel period next Easter. The Government can support these businesses by issuing another round of grants, based on those offered to Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure businesses earlier in the crisis, and extending other business support measures into 2021/22
5. Give ongoing salary support: with the furlough scheme drawing to a close at the end of October, the government should consider extending support for businesses that have not seen a significant recovery in revenues, as has happened elsewhere such as Australia. Targeting salary support where it is needed until March 2021 would reduce the cost to HM Treasury and could preserve tens of thousands of jobs in travel

ABTA finds the Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has been a significant help for businesses in the travel industry, with nine in 10 businesses taking part in the scheme to support staff.

However, 65 per cent of businesses have either had to make redundancies or have started a consultation process. Despite this, there is optimism that the travel industry can recover, if offered the right support by Government, with four in 10 businesses confident travel can return to 2019 levels by 2022.

To do this, according to ABTA’s plan, the Government should adopt a regionalised approach to quarantine rules.

In the absence of a regional approach to Foreign Office travel advice and quarantine rules the Association highlights it is difficult to see how the UK can reopen travel to critical trade partners, including the US, in the foreseeable future.

At the same time, if the travel industry is to retain the maximum number of jobs, it is vital that consumers are incentivised to book holidays.

With the peak booking season starting from December, ABTA is urging the Government to use the Autumn Budget to announce an Air Passenger Duty (APD) holiday covering summer 2021.

If the Government does not act with tailored support for travel, as it has for other sectors, 83 per cent of firms estimate that it will have a critical or serious impact on their business.

With only 65 per cent of businesses operating again, many parts of the travel industry remain shuttered, such as cruise and school travel operators.

Moreover, if a second wave resulted in a further shutdown, 96 per cent of travel businesses report it would have a critical or serious impact on their ability to survive.

ABTA chief executive, Mark Tanzer, says: “With the Government’s stop start measures, the restart of travel has not gone as hoped for the industry, and sadly businesses continue to be adversely affected and jobs are being lost at an alarming rate.

“Coming towards the end of the traditional period for peak booking, we have hit a critical point as existing Government measures to support businesses begin to taper off, the consequence of which, according to this survey of ABTA Members will be ruinous for more people’s livelihoods.

“Travel desperately needs the Government in its next review to provide tailored support or tens of thousands more jobs will be lost.

“We have already seen well-known and respected businesses that would normally be successful falling into administration, and more are sadly set to follow unless the Government can Save Future Travel.”

Visit abta.com for more information.