Sunlounger welcomed Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch and local North West Norfolk MP James Wild to the agency's HQ in King's Lynn on Monday (23 March) for a wide-ranging discussion about the state of the industry.
The agency is a member of the Advantage Travel Partnership, whose chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said is one of the driving forces between the UK Outbound Travel lobby group, which has for several years been encouraging agents to set up meetings with their local MPs.
'Very real pressures'
Owner and managing director Iain Kirkbright said the meeting was a rare opportunity to bring industry issues to the attention of the powers that be at a time when travel is dealing with the fallout from the Middle East crisis.
"I was able to tell them [Badenoch and Wild] the travel industry is navigating one of the most challenging and complex periods in its recent history, and to speak frankly about the very real pressures businesses like ours are facing right now," said Kirkbright.
"The sector was already grappling with rising National Insurance contributions, mounting employment pressures and escalating business rates. And then the Middle East crisis hits on top of all of that, adding a significant and urgent new layer to an already difficult landscape.
"Our teams have been working around the clock to manage the situation and protect our customers and our businesses – I made sure they understood that too."
'Economic pillars'
Lo Bue-Said said she was pleased to see Sunlounger relay the industry's important message to the leader of the opposition. "It is vital our industry's voice is heard at the highest levels of politics," she said.
"By demonstrating to MPs how UK outbound travel businesses are central pillars of their local economies, we are building a genuine caucus of supporters in parliament and that can only strengthen our case for better ministerial representation and recognition of the enormous economic contribution this sector makes."
