Speaking at Abta’s Brexit and the Future of UK Travel seminar on Thursday last week, Tanzer said an ongoing lack of clarity on key issues affecting travel, petty “political skirmishing” and mainstream media scare stories had hit consumer confidence.

“A year ago, we held a Brexit briefing and I said: ‘If we’re still in a position of uncertainty in 12 months’ time, we’ll have a real problem’,” said Tanzer. “I should have known better. We are rapidly approaching if not a political cliff edge, then a defining moment in UK history.

“This is not where we wanted to be. Consumer confidence is fragile. I hope we can raise our eyes to the horizon and consider the underlying strength of the travel industry and the contribution it makes, economically and socially, and what needs to be done to ensure its continued health.”

Making specific reference to a no-deal Brexit, Tanzer said whatever the long-term UK-EU relationship, an abrupt exit would be “extremely damaging”.

With aviation access a priority, Tanzer welcomed the EU Commission signalling UK-EU flights would continue for 12 months, albeit while stressing Abta would continue to contest the commission’s proposal to cap flights at summer 2018 levels.

He also praised progress on reciprocal visa-free travel in the event of a no-deal scenario, the home secretary’s commitment to allowing EU nationals to use e-passport gates and bilateral healthcare provisos in the absence of Ehic, such as that offered by Portugal.

“The bare bones are taking shape,” said Tanzer. “But this is far from perfect. The damaging impact of a no-deal outcome on the industry should not be underestimated.

“A lot of ministers say it will be all right in the medium term – the medium term isn’t very interesting if you don’t make it through the short term.”