TTG launches new campaign to #SaveTravelJobs
Sophie GriffithsTTG Media has launched the next stage of our #SaveTravel campaign by calling on the government to step up and #SaveTravelJobs.
It comes as financial experts warn the travel industry is on “the edge of a storm”, with fears that hundreds of businesses – and thousands of jobs – could be lost as creditors start to call in debts, as the furlough scheme end and as the next Atol deadline looms.
TTG Media has drafted a new letter to prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak highlighting the immense challenge still facing the sector, along with demands for them to provide urgent support in order to save hundreds of thousands of jobs.
The letter, which can be signed here, has three key demands and echoes the latest call for support from by the Abta-led Save Future Travel Coalition.
- To provide furlough support beyond 30 September until at least April 2022;
- To introduce dedicated financial support for this industry, including 100% business rates relief for the full financial year, as well as a dedicated grant scheme;
- And to use their positions to publicly voice support for the travel industry – especially travel agents – to restore confidence in this sector, in the same way they spoke up for restaurateurs when the government launched the Eat Out to Help Out scheme this time last year.
TTG Media is collecting signatures on the letter, which you can sign below. It will be delivered to the PM and chancellor later this month.
It comes almost a year to the day after TTG launched the #SaveTravel campaign, where we collected 12,000 signatures from across the sector in support of a letter to transport secretary Grant Shapps.
TTG has also created a template letter echoing our demands, which readers can send to their local MP asking for their support so they, in turn, can keep up the pressure on their Westminster colleagues.
We will also be creating a series of marketing assets for agents to use to help boost consumer confidence and remind them to use agents when booking a holiday.
’Enough is enough’
Sophie Griffiths, editor of TTG said: “Almost a year to the day that we first launched #SaveTravel, it is shameful that we are having to urge government – once again – to step up and support the UK travel industry.
“Yes, it is fantastic we have seen travel restarting this summer, but the government’s shambolic approach to the traffic light scheme has hammered consumer confidence, which remains at an all time low. Many business leaders are already experiencing sleepless nights as September and the end of furlough approaches, and are already expressing fears as to how long their businesses can survive. The lack of government understanding and support for this industry is disgraceful and we believe enough is enough.”
How to back the campaign
Just enter your post code in the Parliament UK "find your MP" tool linked below to get their email address, and then hit "email your local MP here". This will bring up a template email. All you have to do then is to paste in their email address, add their name and your name/business – and then hit send. Remember, you can email both your own local MP and your business’s constituency MP if they’re different.
Read the full letter to Johnson and Sunak here
Below is the full text we are proposing you send to your MP if you are having trouble with the button above. Just copy and paste it into an email, add your MPs details, and send it off.
Dear [your MPs name]
As you must surely be aware, the last 16 months has been catastrophic for the UK travel industry – and tragically still remains so today.
While other industries have been able to restart and welcome cash back into their businesses, the travel industry remains stalled, with consumer confidence at an all time low. And even with (limited) numbers of customers booking further ahead into 2022/23, travel agents will not see any of this money until these holidays take place next year and beyond.
The upshot is hundreds of travel businesses are quite literally now on the brink of failure – with hundreds of thousands of jobs on the line.
As a member of your constituency, I am one such business directly impacted by this crisis, which has already devastated the travel industry in so many ways.
Abta estimates that 200,000 jobs in travel have been lost or are at risk of redundancy and I am writing to you, as your constituent, to ask for your support in urgently requesting the government to support the UK travel industry with:
- An extension to the furlough scheme beyond September 30 to at least April 2022
- Dedicated financial support for this industry, including 100% business rates relief for the full financial year as well as a dedicated grant scheme
I am also asking you to use your position to publicly voice support for the travel industry – especially travel agents – to restore confidence in this sector, in the same way that the government spoke up for restaurateurs when it launched the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
The government has loudly touted the £7bn it has provided for the aviation industry and the further £25bn provided to tourism, hospitality and leisure sectors. But there are thousands of businesses – including travel agents and tour operators – who do not fall into the categories stipulated by government.
There is a misperception that international holidays take money out of the UK.
On the contrary, these holidays are booked with UK-based businesses who pay taxes and employ hundreds of thousands of staff. The UK travel industry - including both the outbound leisure and business travel sectors, is in fact worth an estimated £37.1bn to the UK economy, and the inbound sector, is worth an estimated £28bn to the UK economy.
I am calling on you to recognise the urgent plight of this sector and to help save the jobs in your constituency that will be sorely impacted by the end of the furlough scheme next month.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name/business]
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