TTG – News from the travel industry

This could help UK travel and tourism companies make progress in tackling workforce shortages, restore opportunities lost to young people due to Britain’s departure from the EU, and make a tangible contribution to Britain’s growth prospects – in favor of whichever party comes to power after Britain’s next general election. .

Abta’s research with Seasonal Businesses in Travel (SBiT) illustrates the severity of the challenge many outbound businesses have faced following a 69% drop in the number of British nationals working in tourism support roles – such as travel representatives, chalet hosts and ski guides – in Europe since the 20th century. Britain left the EU.

Not only is this holding back businesses today, it is also having damaging consequences for the future of our industry and the skills within the sector; 38% of travel workers and 49% of industry leaders have worked abroad at an earlier stage in their careers. Without access to these positions, the future talent pipeline for the industry will be disabled.

It is also important to clarify that it is not just outbound tourism businesses that would benefit; the incoming and domestic sectors have their own workforce challenges, whether these relate to skills shortages such as languages, or workforce issues, which could also be partly alleviated by an agreement on youth mobility.

This is why Abta, together with industry partners, has worked hard in recent years to put forward a pragmatic, positive, evidence-based case for change in this area – to policy makers at home and abroad.