The association estimates outbound travel accounted for £51.6 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy – the value of goods and services produced by the sector after deducting input costs.
Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer said the figure was an increase of 5% on pre-pandemic levels of £49 billion. The association also estimates 818,000 people are employed in the industry via the extended supply chain in the UK.
Tanzer on Tuesday (3 December) told Abta’s Travel Matters conference that while the picture was optimistic, Abta members were “by no means out of the woods yet”.
“Many still have balance sheets with a heavy debt load, and the National Insurance and Minimum Wage increases recently announced in the budget will put acute pressure on already thin margins,” he said.
He warned against heavier taxes on travel: “What we must avoid is a layering of taxes that drives the costs of holidays beyond the reach of our customers. We have already had a 14% increase in Air Passenger Duty on short haul economy flights announced in the recent budget.
“We must resist successive environmental taxes at the UK and EU level that throttle demand and restrict travel’s ability to grow and contribute economically.”
Tanzer said the new government had stated economic growth was a priority, adding travel had a part to play in contributing to GDP, employment and taxation. “That contribution is forecast to grow faster than the wider economy given the right policy and infrastructure framework,” he said.
He conceded the industry’s success was not without issues. “We saw during the pandemic the catastrophic economic and social impact of no tourism on tourist destinations.
"Now we are starting to see signs of the opposite phenomenon – protests at overtourism. These are by no means widespread, but they are real and suggest that destinations need a new model of flow management that measures and balances impacts on residents and the environment.
“Some destinations – Majorca comes to mind – are already well embarked on this journey, and we look forward to working with them to see how incoming visitors – our customers – can play a role in that new model.”
