Boris Johnson is due to give a “roadmap” update on Monday (22 February).

The open letter (below) is signed by Abta in partnership with the Save Future Travel Coalition and many leading organisations and businesses from across the travel industry, such as Aito, the SPAA, Clia, consortia, Kuoni and the BTA.

The letter says “it is too early to put a specific date on the return to international travel”, but requests some principles for restarting travel – “recognising that the return to normal life will never be entirely risk-free”.

The letter in full reads:

Dear Prime Minister,

The coronavirus pandemic has been devastating for many businesses across the country, with the impact on the travel industry particularly severe. There has been little opportunity to recover or generate income since the virus first affected the sector 12 months ago, with government policies effectively shutting down international travel for most of the past year.

We understand that the Government has taken the steps it feels necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus and the introduction of new variants into the UK, and we have supported the Government in these measures. Public health must come first.

But this has taken its toll on the sector. Around 160,000 jobs have been lost and many businesses have closed their doors for good, with the economic output for travel down by 86% for travel agents and tour operators, and 90% for aviation, between February and December 2020, according to recent figures from the Office for National Statistics.

With the vaccine rollout now progressing well, and as you look to how the lockdown can be eased, we ask you to provide a roadmap to get people travelling again this summer. We know that it is too early to put a specific date on the return to international travel, and that there will be a need for flexibility in the approach, but what we need are some principles for restarting travel - recognising that the return to normal life will never be entirely risk-free. We also encourage coordination across the UK, where possible.

In particular, the Government should:

• Recognise that we cannot wait for the full rollout of the vaccination programme before people start to travel again, and that not everyone can or will want to be vaccinated, so a practical and cost-effective testing regime will be critical. 
• Facilitate travel through a recognised vaccine certificate to enable restrictions to be relaxed for some travellers.
• Return Foreign Office travel advice on COVID-19 to a regional basis, as opposed to a whole country level, and ensure the advice focuses on the risk to people in destinations. Also review existing Government advice against travel in specific sectors, such as school travel, in light of the improving medical situation and vaccine rollout.

The Government needs to provide tailored financial support to help all travel businesses through to recovery, including grants that take account of the impact of international travel restrictions, and the extension of other support measures, such as business rates relief, into the next financial year.

We also know that the recovery of travel is likely to be gradual, which will require the maintenance of flexible furlough support throughout the summer season, as well as other regulatory alleviations and support measures to help businesses meet their fixed costs.

We urge you to use your announcement on 22 February to provide a route out of the crisis for the travel industry, to help safeguard the livelihoods of the hundreds of thousands of people employed in the sector and rebuild the £80bn contribution the sector makes to the UK economy.