Rishi Sunak will offer shops and hospitality firms up to £18,000 to help high street travel agencies and other businesses reopen.
Speaking on Sunday’s Andrew Marr Show, Sunak said the scheme would “get them back on their feet”. Nearly 700,000 shops and other businesses will be eligible.
Ahead of the Budget, 83 MPs have signed a letter urging the chancellor to offer another 100% business rate holiday for all businesses during the next financial year.
In a letter to Sunak, the MPs argue the UK’s tourism industry is the sixth largest in the world, generating £155.4 billion for the economy, including £28.4 billion in export earnings.
“Covid-19 has ravaged the industry, with international and domestic tourism losing key ‘peak’ months during the summer of 2020 which are vital for sector businesses,” it said.
“Investing in these sectors in the Budget is vital to our national recovery and is in the interest of every region of the UK.”
Sally-Ann Hart MP, co-vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hospitality and Tourism, said: “Our hospitality and tourism sectors are some of the best in the world. They are a fantastic social as well as economic asset and we should be immensely proud of them. They have been absolutely devastated by Covid, though.
“Despite unprecedented financial support from government, unfortunately many businesses have been lost and they have taken hundreds of thousands of jobs with them. These are businesses that are critical to communities around the country.
“Ongoing government support through to the end of the pandemic and through the recovery phase is critical to rebuilding this industry and creating jobs.”
