General secretary Manuel Cortes signed TTG’s letter - which is now nearing 2,300 signatures – calling on chancellor Rishi Sunak and transport secretary Grant Shapps to deliver sector specific support as travel businesses fight for survival.

Last week, the TSSA wrote to Shapps urging him to go “beyond the Job Retention Scheme” to help safeguard staff after the industry was dealt a heavy blow as quarantine measures were imposed on arrivals from Spain and “all but essential travel” Foreign Office advice were put in place for the country.

“Without government support there is a very real risk that the UK travel industry will collapse and thousands of people will lose their jobs. It is essential that Grant Shapps shows that he learned the lessons from the collapse of Thomas Cook on the last Tory government’s watch – inactivity is simply unacceptable,” said Cortes. 

Now after throwing its weight behind TTG’s fight to #SaveTravel, Cortes added: “Our travel trade is in dire straights given the concentrated impact of coronavirus on the ability to travel. An already difficult situation has been made worse by the government’s confused messaging and last-minute changes to quarantine instructions. 

“Today’s announcement from Hays Travel is yet another devastating chapter in the impact that Covid-19 is having on the travel trade.

“We completely support the demands in this TTG #SaveTravel campaign. Our travel industry clearly needs a bespoke support package, which reflects the situation that agents have been put in. There are plenty of practical and achievable options for government to save tens of thousands of jobs.

“An entire industry is on the brink here and without government action our travel trade could be wiped out.”