In the view of many, the actions of the government can be put down to dishonesty, incompetence or ignorance of how the travel trade works and what the sectors within the industry are.
For example, when complaints were made that the travel sector was getting insufficient support, we were reminded airlines were being helped to the tune of £7 billion, with seemingly no recognition of the needs of tour operators or travel agents. Travel is not just airlines, minister.
Many EU countries have been much more generous with financial assistance. By contrast, we have been given CBIL loans we now have to pay back despite taking little to no income over the past 18 months. Pretty challenging.
Much of the public now has a distrust of both the travel industry after the refund debacle in 2020, caused by the not-fit-for-purpose-in-a-pandemic Package Travel Regulations, and of the government after so many short-notice twists and turns regarding travel abroad.
Given this distrust, it is no…