Aito chairman Chris Rowles said: “We believe that keeping the British people stuck at home rather than on holiday abroad has been the government’s intention throughout – to ensure that its furlough payments are used solely to boost the UK economy, whether UK residents go on holiday in the UK or simply stay at home.

“We call upon Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak: Give the outbound travel industry a serious level of support, in line with the impossible situation that you have put us all in. 

“We have had no income for 14 months now. No organisation can cope with that. Do as the 60 members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) have recently suggested – don’t leave us high and dry, but give us the sector-specific support that we need to survive, and deliver it now.

“You must demonstrate clearly that you are not simply aiming to put us out of business and that you realise the massively negative hit that your actions are having on our formerly vibrant SME businesses, their customers, the travel industry’s hundreds of thousands of employees and, of course, the many destinations worldwide that we all serve.

“This has nothing to do with safety; everyone realises how important the mantra of face, space and hands is, and understands that such safety steps will need to be continued, both at home and abroad, for the foreseeable future.”