The Save Future Travel Coalition was created by several leading industry bodies, including Abta, in summer 2020 to “ensure a consistent and coordinated voice” for the travel sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This work on shared lobbying goals and challenges is now set to continue under the guise of the Future Travel Coalition, with the name change to reflect the industry’s move into a recovery phase following the depths of Covid crisis.
The 16 members of the Future Travel Coalition include Abta, Aito, Advantage Travel Partnership, Business Travel Association, Clia, Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA), Seasonal Businesses in Travel (Sbit), The Travel Network Group and UKinbound.
Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at Abta, said: “The coalition has been an invaluable forum throughout the pandemic to enable the industry to share insights and coordinate our lobbying messaging and asks.
“Continuing our work together into the future will ensure we continue to exchange intelligence, coordinate messaging and add our combined weight to our arguments and lobbying asks.
“From the outset it was clear the coalition was something that would have value beyond the pandemic. Changing the name reflects that the industry is now in the recovery phase and is a sign of our joint commitment to build on the progress we’ve made in improving cross-industry lobbying collaboration.”
Mike Tibbert, SPAA’s president, added: “The governments within the UK have taken different approaches throughout the pandemic, so it has been extremely helpful to be able to work together, sharing knowledge and updates.”
