'Broken and broke' travel agents stage protest
- Published
Protesters called for targeted support from the government during the protest in Edinburgh
Travel agents have called on the Scottish government for greater support, warning that the industry is at risk of collapse.
The call came during a protest staged by travel agents and tour operators outside the Scottish Parliament.
The event's organisers said Covid-19 had left the industry "broken and broke".
The Scottish government said it was "engaging" with the travel sector in order to help support businesses.
The protest in Edinburgh was organised by the Scottish Passenger Agents' Association (SPAA), which said Scotland's 26,000 travel sector jobs were at risk without "a clear strategy and action plan for how the Scottish and UK governments will get travel moving again".
It estimated that at least 500 jobs had already been lost since March.
'Short-sighted'
The association argued that the Scottish travel sector required a "tailored support package of grants" after losing most of their business as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
SPAA president Joanne Dooey said: "We are at serious and immediate risk of losing Scotland's travel industry and the 26,000 jobs which the industry supports.
"It seems as if the Scottish government has completely turned its back on the travel industry, which is massively short-sighted.
"Travel agents are broken - and broke."
Ms Dooey said the financial model of the travel industry meant agents did all the work for summer 2020 bookings in autumn 2019, but did not receive a penny of the money paid by customers because it went directly to tour operators.
SPAA president Joanne Dooey said Scotland was "at serious and immediate risk" of losing its travel industry
She said the industry was worried that the rate of job losses would "accelerate rapidly as the industry enters a second year of zero revenue".
The SPAA said its members were also calling for "a credible, robust and affordable" testing scheme to be introduced at airports before Christmas, which it argued would significantly reduce quarantine times and encourage more people to travel.
Business Minister Jamie Hepburn said the government did not underestimate the impact the pandemic has had and continues to have on the tourism sector.
He said: "We are engaging with the sector, including with the Scottish Passenger Agents' Association, in order to fully appreciate and understand the current challenges they face and will continue to do so in order to help support those businesses.
"We are doing everything we can with our limited powers to help businesses, offering support which now exceeds £2.3bn in addition to the UK government's furlough scheme."
In August, travel industry trade body ABTA warned that the UK sector had reached a "critical point" and called for further support to stem job losses.
It said then that measures to curb the pandemic had already led to the loss of around 39,000 jobs, with about 65% of travel firms having made redundancies or started a consultation process.
- Published5 November 2020
- Published24 August 2020
