The Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) has urged the Scottish and UK Governments to stop "the fear factor" around international travel.
The message came from president Joanne Dooey in front of 200 travel professionals at the Crowne Plaza in Glasgow on Thursday evening (9 September) at the association’s centenary dinner, marking 100 years since it was founded.
"We need to see a return to international flying," Dooey said. "The fear factor driven by people in power now needs to stop.
"We need to get Scotland back to business with safety protocols in place which are simple, and more importantly do not cost a fortune, to allow our industry to get back to some normality."
She further urged the central authorities to "remove complexity and bring in simplicity" to support travel and "not hinder it".
According to SPAA, passenger figures have fallen to below 10% during the pandemic compared to previous years.
A recent survey carried out by the association reportedly revealed that a third of its members had taken a second job since March 2020 and 7% of these members had taken over three jobs.
"We at SPAA have lived up to our mission to be the voice of travel in Scotland in our centenary year – and we will continue to do so, loudly," Dooey added. "We will keep up the fight for sector specific support for the travel sector."