Signatories include Jet2holidays, Tui UK, Kuoni parent Dertour UK, Inghams, Planet Holidays and Sunvil, as well as lobby groups such as Seasonal Businesses in Travel and UKinbound.
The letter was sent to cabinet office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds ahead of talks starting on 19 May in which it is hoped to improve relations between the UK and EU.
It pointed out that since Brexit, employing UK staff abroad “has been an operational and expensive nightmare”. Industry leaders say that as well as making it more expensive to operate in Europe, the ban on posting staff overseas had closed the industry’s “talent pipeline”.
“Many outbound travel businesses have had to alter the holidays they sell to customers or change the service they provide, because they aren’t able to get the UK staff they need,” campaigners said. “Prior to the UK leaving the EU, it was much easier for UK staff to work in destinations as ski chalet hosts, resort reps and tour guides.
"Research by Abta and Seasonal Businesses in Travel (SBiT) shows overseas travel roles have fallen by 69% since the UK’s departure from the EU, and travel companies have had to navigate local employment rules in each country, where they exist, to try to get staff overseas.”
Campaigners said the idea of a letter followed reports the chancellor Rachel Reeves sees the scheme as supporting the UK’s growth agenda. In addition, more than 70 Labour MPs and peers wrote to express support for a UK-EU youth mobility scheme.
Richard Toomer, Tourism Alliance executive director, said: “Youth mobility gives young people valuable opportunity to travel and experience life in other countries and cultures. Allowing EU and UK residents to take advantage of this scheme would be enormously welcomed by many who will go on to have fulfilling careers in travel and tourism, but also in many cases a life-long appreciation and affection for their host country.
“Concluding a YMS deal with the EU should just be one part of a broader move to break down some of the unnecessary barriers to travel that have gone up since Brexit. Sadly, travelling between the two jurisdictions has become more costly, bureaucratic and time-consuming. An EU-UK reset should aim to tackle that too.”
Abta’s director of public affairs Luke Petherbridge added: “We’ve been talking to governments – past and present – since 2016 about the need for a UK-EU youth mobility arrangement. The recent positive noises from Ministers and MPs show it’s important to be persistent – this is what effective lobbying is about.
"Obviously, there is still a long way to go, with the renegotiations only just starting in a few weeks’ time, but it’s encouraging that sentiment in the UK is shifting in our favour.”
