Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer and director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge caught up with veteran Conservative MP John Whittingdale on Tuesday (15 August), who has taken over the tourism portfolio at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) from Julia Lopez, who is on maternity leave.
The delegation briefed Whittingdale on travel’s significant economic contribution, in terms of both spend and employment, as well as some of the many challenges the industry faces post-Brexit and now post-pandemic.
"The outbound sector contributes £49 billion a year in economic activity and employs 843,000 people," said Tanzer. "The average traveller spends £670 in the UK before departure, and this spending helps to support communities and jobs right across the UK. While is clear from our discussion the minister already understands this point, we must never miss an opportunity to reiterate that message."
Travel’s relationship with the DCMS has been frustrated by a lack of ministerial continuity following Nigel Huddleston’s two-and-a-half year stint from February 2020 to September 2022. After several short-lived successors, Lopez was appointed to the role in March 2023. She took maternity leave in May.
In the wake of the pandemic, Tanzer stressed that Abta would continue to take a solutions-oriented approach to its political outreach and lobbying. "We know how important it is to present government with solutions," he said.
One topical area of discussion with Whittingdale was the recent wildfires in southern Europe, particularly Rhodes – an opportunity seized on by Abta to extol the benefits of booking good quality package travel and set out the industry’s stall with regards to imminent reforms of the Package Travel Regulations.
Conversation also turned to several of Abta’s priority policy issues, including posted workers and proposed changes to post-16 education for young people keen to pursue careers in travel and tourism.
"On both points, it is important DCMS, as our home government department, is up to date on our views and that they are able to represent these in their cross-government discussions," said Tanzer. "Through our ongoing engagement with officials within the department, Abta will ensure this remains the case.
"It was good to be able to talk through our proposals around the extension of the youth mobility scheme, and also to share more on how we’re bringing industry together to work on the future of travel and tourism courses within further education."
