Scottish travel industry calls for more support as firms suffer long term impact of pandemic

The global pandemic has seen a push towards people holidaying close to home with the added benefit that it could help stimulate the economy.

However, the impact of the pandemic is being cruelly felt on parts of the industry which focuses on outbound travel. Figures from the Association of British Travel Agents show that outbound travellers are worth £1.7bn to Scotland and sustains more than 26,000 jobs in Scotland.

And while it could be argued that people holidaying abroad does little for the home economy, the average UK outbound traveller spends £324 before jetting off.

Now the Scottish Passenger Agents Association (SPAA), the world's oldest travel organisation, representing the interests of the Scottish travel industry, says it is calling for more support to protect jobs and businesses in the sector.

Joanne Dooey, president of the SPAA, said: “As an association, we back all moves to keep individuals and the wider country, safe. However, we’re hugely concerned about the lack of support for the travel sector throughout this pandemic. A whole sector of the Scottish economy is in immediate jeopardy. Because of the unique business model on which travel is based, where the initial point of the contact for the customer is the last link in the chain to be paid, we are urging the Scottish Government to consider sector specific support urgently.”

There calls came as the Save Travel Campaign Travel campaign earlier this week called on the UK Government to urgently intervene and support the tourism industry with a range of measures.

They called for them to provide direct sector specific support for the UK travel industry and companies operating within it (such as SMEs like travel agents and tour operators, not just airlines), which might include an extension to the furlough scheme.

They also asked for them to consider a holiday on Air Passenger Duty until the end of August 2021, to help with pricing and encourage consumers to start booking holidays again arguing that the hospitality sector has been aided by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.

The campaign is also seeking a commitment to providing more advance notice of changes to destinations’ quarantine statuses. Just last week holidaymakers were plunged into crisis when it was suddenly announced that France was to be added to the quarantine list which led to a scramble for flights and ferries home.

For Linda Hill Miller runs her own travel business she has written off 2020 and is now fearful of how the market will pick up in 2021.

Ms Miller, who is the founder of Ayrshire based independent LAH Travel in West Kilbride, said: “This has been the most devastating experience for me and I am so disappointed in the attitude from both governments. I have been in the industry for more than 30 years and have run my own successful business for 16 years, and I don’t even know if I am going to be able to survive this.

"This comes after the best year we have ever had. We are one of the few industries which has stopped earning but yet has had to refund last year’s profit as well. Hairdressers closed down but didn’t have to pay back last year’s cuts. I have had to pay back £1.5million in refunds which is £150,000 in revenue made last year.

“We did the right thing by our loyal customers and have now refunded 95 per cent of our customers. We did this at the very start which meant I did not use the furlough scheme.”

Ms Miller said that now is the time when she could do with more support and is calling for an extension to the furlough scheme as her business is continuing to be hit now.

She added: “We applied for the £10,000 grant and £50,000 on loan through the bounce back scheme and that will need to be repaid at £1000 a month from January. I am now in a position where we could benefit from the furlough scheme and would like to see an extension to that. We are not going to see a boom in holiday sales in the next few months with so much uncertainty still around and until customers can feel safe and confident about booking.”

With the Czech Republic and Jamaica among the countries recently added to the quarantine list, Ms Miller believes more robust testing should be in place at airports.

She added: “If we can have local lockdowns, then why can’t we have robust testing at certain airports.”

Ms Miller, who is a Women’s Enterprise Scotland Ambassador and an advocate for gender specific support which helps women start and grow their own businesses, added that her customers have been supportive throughout lockdown and thinks travel agent businesses could see a spin off.

She added: “I think one positive is that we might see people wanting to book through a travel agent for the piece of mind it gives them. While we can we are offering flexibility with bookings and refunds.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our total package for businesses during this unprecedented economic crisis now totals £2.3 billion.

“We continue to urge the UK Government to extend the furlough scheme, or to replace it with similar support for those who need it as it is clear that many sectors like tourism and travel will feel the impact of the pandemic well past October and into 2021. The furlough scheme has provided essential support to businesses and workers, and we have seen it has been particularly important in areas where local lockdowns have been introduced to help support people to comply with those restrictions.”