Last month, Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said announced plans to set up a UK Outbound Travel forum to get travel’s voice heard in Westminster.
"Our lack of profile over the past two years has showed us we need to work considerably harder in making our sector known and understood with MPs and government officials in order to influence decision making in the future," said Lo Bue-Said.
She added the travel industry had struggled to get its "collective voice heard" during the pandemic and convey the "significant contribution" outbound travel makes economically and socially.
On Monday, Lo Bue-Said revealed she was heading to Westminster for a meeting to discuss the project, adding she was due to be joined by former MP Steve Norris – who served as minister for transport in London under John Major in the early 1990s.
"As the world continues to change all around us, today I’ll be joining @StevenJNorris in Westminster and industry representatives from the outbound travel sector to explore how we improve the understanding of the sector and build longer-term government engagement," tweeted Lo Bue-Said.
Alexis Coles Barrasso, former director of PR and communications at The Travel Network Group, will support Advantage on a consultancy basis to scope out its government-led strategy going forward.
Shortly before Christmas, Lo Bue-Said called on the industry to pool its resources "to create a war chest to fund a serious lobbying group".
The resultant UK Outbound Travel forum would appear to take some of its cues from UKHospitality, which was formed in 2018 by the merger of the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and the British Hospitality Association with a view to providing a single voice for the hospitality issue.
The group has been widely hailed during the pandemic for its success advocating on the industry’s behalf and securing a better settlement for hospitality; following the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 last year, chancellor Rishi Sunak interrupted a visit to the US to hold meetings with the hospitality sector, tweeting: "We’re listening to their concerns and will continue to work with them over the coming days."
Speaking in December, Lo Bue-Said said: “Over recent weeks and months, there have been criticisms that the [travel] industry is too fragmented and inconsistent with what we are asking for from government. In fact, this is incorrect. Our asks, coordinated through the [Abta-led] Save Future Travel Coalition have been aligned.
“What isn’t aligned is the lobbying required to engage with government at the right level across all relevant departments. Never before has the industry had to deal with such a crisis at such a magnitude as a global pandemic.
“The issues that we have been facing are much bigger than any one person or any one business. We need to show a united front and be clear on what we want from our government. To ensure we are heard, we need to invest in a dedicated heavyweight lobbying team.”
