In Brief: The U.K. Future Travel Coalition has welcomed new Prime Minister Andy Burnham and outlined its key policy requests, signaling the sector’s intent to engage with the incoming government on issues affecting travel and hospitality businesses.
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U.K. Future Travel Coalition Welcomes New PM Andy Burnham and Sets out Industry Asks – Image Credit Unsplash+
The Future Travel Coalition (FTC) has written to the new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, to welcome him and his new Cabinet to their roles and promote the huge economic and employment footprint of the UK travel industry. The letter also sets out the potential for travel and tourism to support economic growth, outlining how supportive government policy can help achieve this aim.
The FTC is a cross-industry group of associations, trade bodies and consortia representing a large proportion of the UK organised travel market, including leisure and business travel, as well as inbound and outbound representatives. Signatories of the letter include ABTA, AITO, the Business Travel Association, ANITA, ATAS, ATTA, the Business Travel Association, CLIA, the ITT, LATA, SBiT, the SPAA, TTNG, and UKinbound.
In the letter, the FTC partners highlighted that the UK’s tourism industry generates over £165 billion in GVA annually, accounting for 6.7% of the UK economy, and supporting over 3 million jobs – whilst paying more than £36.6 billion in tax revenues to the exchequer.
The Coalition partners cautioned that rising taxes, high employment costs, and increased regulatory burdens are making life tough for businesses – with the industry unable to absorb these costs indefinitely without affecting demand, investment and jobs. At the same time, consumers are struggling with the rising cost of living, exacerbated by taxes and levies, such Air Passenger Duty and local tourism taxes, which make the UK less competitive.
The letter goes on to welcome recent government moves to improve UK-EU relations, whilst acknowledging the need for further progress most notably around youth mobility and tackling operational barriers. Meanwhile, in relation to the government’s plans to publish a Tourism Growth Plan, the FTC partners express a willingness to engage with ministers and officials over coming weeks, noting the welcome ambition to attract more than 50 million annual visitors to the UK by 2030, and highlighting the critical role that travel and tourism businesses across the country will play in delivering many of the policy proposals, including around addressing skills and workforce challenges.