Pollard told TTG that the industry must offer a “clear and determined” voice or “risk being ignored” when ministers begin official talks with the EU next week.
“If that happens, then it could well reduce profits, consumer confidence and the number of people employed across the industry,” he said.
“[Politicians] like myself need to get a clear message from those in travel about the issues and what we can do to help.”
Pollard, who was Abta’s head of public affairs from 2009-13, was named Labour MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport in last week’s general election, which resulted in a hung parliament.
The outcome has led prime minister Theresa May to seek a deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Northern Ireland to secure support for her minority government. Many commentators are predicting the possibility of a further general election in the coming months.
Pollard said he feared issues crucial to the trade such as airport expansion, Air Passenger Duty and the Package Travel Directive were “not going to get the time they deserve” owing to the political uncertainty coupled with a lack of “clarity” from the Conservatives over their Brexit strategy.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you – beyond a few sound bites – the government’s position on Brexit… because I don’t think they fully know themselves,” he added.
“Until they can give that clarity, then there’s going to be difficulty getting into the nitty-gritty, and that’s what the travel industry really cares about… I’m positive that we have a bright future and there are fantastic people in travel to help fight for it, but it’s dependent on what happens over the next couple of weeks and how the industry reacts.”
Elsewhere, senior industry figures at the ITT Conference 2017 insisted that the election had so far had little impact on sales.
Derek Jones, chief executive UK of Der Touristik Group, said: “For once, from the travel perspective, I don’t think this election had that much impact [on sales]. Perhaps because in the run-up the [outcome of the election] was assumed to be a foregone conclusion, it didn’t change customer behaviour, which is unusual.
“On the one hand, [uncertainty] has become less relevant because people are becoming used to it, but on the other hand we may start to see direct economic consequences… which I think will happen as we have to move into the negotiating phase.”
Gary Anslow, sales director at Monarch Holidays, said the operator had not seen “the usual pre-election softening [of sales]” or any impact in the past two days.
