Speaking after the protest, SPAA president Joanne Dooey said: "The travel industry showed what a committed, professional and colourful sector we are today, turning out to make our message heard that the travel industry is being slowly and painfully strangled by the total lack of support for us.

"We have had a year of zero income, we’ve had to refund all our income from work we undertook last year and we’re facing another year with zero income on the horizon.

"The extended furlough to spring 2021 announcement today certainly helps our employees but our businesses still have all of our fixed overheads to pay every month. 

"We were all encouraged to take out business loans at a time when it looked as though the ‘closure’ of travel would be short term and now we’re faced with no income to repay these loans and banks who refuse to support us further as there’s no income on the horizon.

"I hope that politicians have listened to our message today. We need urgent, tailored help and a strategic plan for Scottish travel which includes a swiftly implemented and comprehensive testing programme at airports."