Representatives from the Future Travel Coalition met on Tuesday 17 July to discuss the implications and opportunities for the travel industry following the outcome of the General Election.

The meeting took place in person in ABTA’s office in central London, with some members joining online.

Topics discussed include coordinating engaging with new MPs to emphasise the value of the whole travel industry – business and leisure, outbound, inbound and domestic – and to help them understand the travel supply chain.

The Future Travel Coalition was originally set up during the COVID-19 pandemic, to unite the industry behind some core asks from the sector and coordinate lobbying activities. Since then, the group as met every other month to continue this work.

The Coalition includes bodies from across the organised travel sector covering outbound and inbound, as well as business and leisure markets. It also brings together bodies who are working with devolved administrations.

Luke Petherbridge, Director of Public Affairs at ABTA – The Travel Association said: It was great to get together with colleagues from the Future Travel Coalition to talk about how we can maximise opportunities to engage with new MPs and the new Government.

“We discussed the importance of working together to demonstrate the value of the industry and emphasising the interdependency between, outbound, inbound and domestic tourism, and how businesses across all parts of the industry add billions of pounds to the UK economy and support millions of jobs.”

Joss Croft, CEO of UKinbound said: “There are 335 new MPs taking a seat in Parliament, so it is incumbent upon us all to work to help them understand the value of our sectors. The meeting was a good opportunity to understand different trade bodies’ plans and how we can work to support each other’s activities for the benefit of the sector overall. Many of our challenges are the same and if the inbound tourism industry is to thrive, we need a successful outbound industry and vice versa.”

Charles Owen, Managing Director at Seasonal Businesses in Travel (SBIT) said: “We’re in a period of huge political change, both at home and abroad, so it’s vital the UK travel industry is aligned in its messaging and can speak with one voice. The Future Travel Coalition has been working together for four years now, so we’re in a good position to continue that work on behalf of the whole travel industry.”