ABTA is appealing to its membership and the wider hospitality community to ‘Save Future Travel’.

The organisation first called for urgent government intervention to support the travel industry and take action around refunds and other measures several weeks ago.

Since then, the association has held discussions with and written to relevant departments and the prime minister multiple times.

Despite this, and the government promise to “do whatever it takes” to protect businesses and jobs, the travel industry is still waiting for action, ABTA said.

The trade body is now calling for widespread industry support to ‘Save Future Travel’ by asking individuals to visit a new website and email their local MP to highlight industry asks.

There is also a hashtag - #savefuturetravel.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA chief executive, explained: “ABTA has been doing all it can on behalf of the industry to make it clear to government the devastating impact this crisis is having and to provide workable solutions to help them to do what it takes to support us. 

“We now need additional help from colleagues, friends and supporters to make our industry voice as loud as possible.

“The time has come for the industry and anyone who loves to travel to get behind our campaign to ‘Save Future Travel’.

“The chancellor promised UK businesses that he would do “whatever it takes” to help the country get through this pandemic, and we need the government to act.”

To protect normally viable and healthy businesses, ABTA has asked the UK administration to act, as governments have already done in many other countries.

The UK travel industry employs more than 500,000 people directly and indirectly across the country and this devastating crisis has brought it to its knees.

Holiday bookings have dried up, while businesses are refunding the mass cancellations of future trips, while still awaiting refunds from airlines and hotels, ABTA said.

“This crisis has created extraordinary difficulties for everyone, in ways that none of us could ever have predicted. Many sectors have been hit hard but few have been hit as hard as travel.

“The changes that we have asked for are reasonable, as has been shown by other governments taking similar action,” concluded Tanzer.

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