The UK Outbound Travel lobby group, which represents around 1,300 travel SMEs, has issued a four-point manifesto, including fairer business rates, package travel reforms and a freeze on Air Passenger Duty (APD).

Members backing the manifesto include the Advantage Travel Partnership, the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito) and the Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust (Abtot).

Others represented by the group include Specialist Holidays Group, AttractionTickets.com, Travel Specialist Consultancy Limited, Themis Advisory and PT Trustees Limited. Together, the group represents more than 700 independent travel agencies and in excess of 600 independent and specialist tour operators.

UK Outbound's plea comes after new research by Abta suggests spending relating to outbound travel in the UK has now grown to around £57 billion a year, with the industry supporting 865,000 jobs.

However, it says rising operating costs, overlapping regulations, fragile consumer confidence and geopolitical uncertainty are squeezing the sector's ability to invest and grow.

It's four key asks of the chancellor are:

• Fairer business rates for travel businesses: UK Outbound says while it welcomes a review of rates valuations for pubs and hotels, travel agencies and tour operators – which it claims face the same pressures – should be treated similarly. It has also called for the government to go beyond planned changes to Small Business Rate Relief, either by raising the small business threshold or by taking the smallest businesses out of the rates system altogether.
   
• Practical support for SMEs: The group argues that, unlike aviation businesses, outbound travel is largely made up of small, often family-run firms that feel the impact of regulatory change and downturns far quicker than large businesses. UK Outbound is asking for "meaningful support" for businesses that take on apprentices, graduates and part-time workers to help the sector play its part in getting your people who are not in education, employment or training into work. It also wants ministers to clarify and simplify how the Package Travel Regulations interact with insurance to prevent small firms being forced to cover the cost of disruption outside of their control.
   
• A freeze of APD for the rest of this current parliament; and
   
• Safer high streets: UK Outbound says members are reporting growing concerns about antisocial behaviour, drug use and street drinking that leave staff and customers feeling unsafe. The group wants public safety placed at the centre of the government's high street agenda, including more visible policing and better coordination between police, councils and enforcement agencies.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, Chief Executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said: "Independent travel agents are often among the last service businesses on the high street, employing local people and keeping town centres alive. The chancellor has promised growth in every postcode, and our members are exactly the businesses that promise describes. Fairer business rates and safer high streets would help them keep their doors open and invest in their communities."

Martyn Sumners, Executive Director of Aito, said: "Specialist tour operators are small businesses carrying big risks. When insurers use the Package Travel Regulations to push valid claims back onto operators, it is SMEs that end up paying for weather, unrest and events entirely beyond their control. Clarity on Regulation 15 would remove an unfair burden at no cost to the Treasury."

Richard Watson, Managing Director of Abtot, added: "British families are still feeling the squeeze, and Air Passenger Duty remains a significant cost on every family holiday. A freeze for the rest of this parliament, alongside fairer treatment of premium economy and children, would support demand and help travel businesses across the UK plan for growth."