That was the call from the Advantage Travel Partnership and Aito ahead of chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s long-awaited economic plan, set to be announced later this morning.

Hunt, who took over from Kwasi Kwarteng following his disastrous mini-budget in September, is reportedly poised to reveal a range of tax rises and spending cuts, including an expected update on how energy costs will be capped for businesses and consumers next year.

In a joint statement, Advantage and Aito, who announced a partnership to maximise their lobbying efforts in October, said members were facing a “fragile” economic climate. 

The groups called on ministers to take advantage of the “regulatory flexibility" offered by Brexit and deliver a “simplified and cohesive alternative” to a “complex web” of regulations currently hampering the sector in order to enhance consumer protection and impose fewer costs on operators. Money saved would allow businesses to better invest in staffing and skills.

“While the demand for international travel is increasing, it is vital that there is proper recognition of the fact that businesses are servicing higher-than-expected debt requirements at a time when interest rates are rising,” said Advantage and Aito.

“Travel restrictions still exist in some parts of the world, and the outbound travel sector will take much longer to recover from the pandemic hangover in comparison to other industries such as aviation and hospitality, often at the behest of foreign governments and the wider travel eco-system.”

Aito chair Chris Rowles said the association was “not looking to the government for money, as we know that the purse strings are tight” but was asking for a “simpler, more cohesive level of regulation” with which to work.

“The existing overlapping regulatory layers do not afford more consumer protection. They simply serve to withhold finance that could better be used to drive growth, ensuring an even larger contribution to both local and national economies,” he said.

Advantage chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said, said the sector needed “to do everything we can” to show the “significant size and shape of our industry” to the newly installed government and fight “a perceived narrative that [the outbound sector] is all about money leaving the country”.

“In 2019, the outbound travel sector contributed £6.9 billion to the UK’s tax revenues. With the industry due to grow by 15% by 2027, compared with 2019 levels, its significant contribution to the fiscal health of the nation can only be enhanced if it is able to take advantage of less restrictive red tape in a post-Brexit environment,” she said.

Aito and Advantage said urged the government to “unleash the huge potential of the outbound travel industry for the benefit of the economy, for business and its skilled workforce”.