‘Travel can't afford to be forgotten again when the next crisis comes’

Lo Bue-Said said with significant political and regulatory upheaval on the horizon – a general election, wholesale reforms of the laws governing travel and further consequences of Brexit – it was vital efforts to raise travel’s profile in the corridors of power continued.

"Do I believe the industry needs to upweight its political engagement; yes I do 100%," said the Advantage chief executive. "Why would we settle with doing less? Do consumers not deserve clarity too? If we and our partners don’t invest more in this, once again pubs and theatres and other sectors will be looked after and we will be forgotten again.

"A senior government official recently said to me they were surprised travel agents still existed – it’s not the first time we’ve heard this. It’s simply not an option to let the people running the country think this way."

With much of the legislation governing travel stemming from EU directives, Lo Bue-Said said she lamented the government’s failure to capitalise on the opportunity provided by Brexit "to review the complex regulatory framework" within which travel operates. "[It] feels as thought it’s been trampled on," she said, adding government’s decision not to act on its review of how the country handles airline insolvencies had squandered another chance to "harmonise" the rules governing travel.

However, she insisted travel had made "some good progress" on putting travel in a position that will ensure when the next crisis comes, the sector "will have built strong foundations for the UK outbound travel sector through increased collaboration and recognition".