Rachel Reeves told the Labour conference in Liverpool ministers were “working with the EU to secure for young people in Britain the maximum economic and cultural opportunities available through an ambitious agreement on youth mobility”.
Reeves said opportunities “cannot and must not be the sole preserve of the wealthy and the fortunate”.
Tour operators, and travel more broadly, lost the right to "post" workers such as reps and chalet hosts overseas in EU countries following Brexit, which did away with the free movement of labour between the UK and EU.
However, there is now consensus on both sides that a limited exchange scheme involving younger people aged 18-30 would be beneficial.
Talks with Brussels in February aimed at resetting the UK-EU relationship saw an outline agreement reached, although the fine detail has still to be thrashed out.
Luke Petherbridge, Abta’s director of public affairs, said: “Abta has been campaigning for such a deal for the past five years. We look forward to engaging with policymakers on all sides to deliver a mutually beneficial agreement, which has strong support from the public.
"Recent research commissioned by Abta found that 76% of people support a deal with the EU to enable young people to work, live and study overseas for temporary periods. This support comes from all voter types, with even 61% of those who voted to leave the EU in 2016 in favour of a deal on youth mobility.”
Earlier, Abta research revealed a 69% decline in UK nationals working abroad since Brexit. It is thought the new scheme will be similar to agreements already in place between the UK and Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
