Representatives from the UK outbound travel sector laid out four key priorities to MPs at the first-ever sector specific UK Outbound Travel Group Westminster Reception held earlier this week.

Leaders from Advantage Travel Partnership, AITO, ABTOT, The Travel Specialist Consultancy, Specialist Holidays Group, Attraction Tickets and others met with MPs at the House of Commons to raise the profile of the sector.

Spelling out the key asks for Parliamentarians, Advantage CEO Julie Lo Bue-Said said the sector wants:

• Greater recognition for UK outbound travel as a “distinct, valuable sector” that is separate from aviation and the visitor economy, with its own needs and contribution
• Support for SMEs, because the vast majority of the sector are small, often family-run businesses
• School calendar reform, where MPs and local governments consider a redistribution of term dates to help spread demand and families afford to travel.
• For MPs to take part in the organisation’s engagement programme, where they visit their local travel agents or tour operators. So far, around 100 MPs have taken part in the programme.

Lo Bue-Said told MPs the pandemic recovery has been hard one but rising costs, ongoing employment pressures and the added impact of geopolitical crises continue to weigh heavily on the sector.

“On top of this, the Package Travel Regulations are too often failing to protect tour operators, who are repeatedly left having to refund thousands of pounds in costs that should be met by insurers, not small businesses. Put simply, tour operators should not be the ‘insurer of last resort’,” she said.

“Finally, new pressures are emerging for families due to the inflexibility of school term dates, which continues to concentrate demand into peak periods, pushing up prices and putting holidays out of reach for many.”

Stephanie Peacock, the UK’s Minister for Sport, Tourism, Civil Society and Youth, acknowledged the vital role of the outbound travel sector for securing “the aviation links and the jobs that keep our whole economy resilient”.

“British residents made over 94 million visits abroad fully exceeding pre-pandemic levels,” she said.

“But it’s also a local story, representing roughly 700 independent travel agents and 600 specialist operators, and I know many are family, family-run small businesses that breathe life into our high streets.”

She added: “I also appreciate that getting to these numbers hasn’t been easy, and that you’ve navigated immense challenges. I recognise the specific challenges that you made there, and also the specific asks, that I’ll take away to my department.”