Travel bosses have issued a dire warning to the UK Government claiming it has just 30 days to save struggling businesses.
The World Travel & Tourism Council ( WTTC ) claimed the upcoming end of the furlough scheme would put thousands of jobs at risk.
It also stressed that unless international travel opens up more widely, with simplified controls, the UK is facing a loss of £59.4 billion.
Hundreds of thousands of employees in the travel and tourism sector are still benefiting from furlough support, which is due to end on 30 September. This date coincides with the next Global Travel Taskforce review on October 1, and WTTC warns that unless travel is opened up significantly by this date, many more people working in the sector could face losing their jobs.
Based on 2019 pre-pandemic levels, WTTC estimates that £59.4billion could be lost from the UK’s economy if travel remains curtailed over the final quarter of 2021 and, furthermore, £8.9billion could be lost purely due to the lack of inbound travel spending within the UK.
It urged UK ministers to follow the United Arab Emirates, which welcomes all fully vaccinated travellers regardless of which country they come from, if they have proof of a negative test result.
The WTTC says will speed up recovery and provide a massive boost to the economy.
Julia Simpson, WTTC president and chief executive, said: “Vast economic wealth and even more jobs could be lost in 30 days’ time, if significant travel doesn’t resume by the same time the furlough scheme ends. Companies are facing a desperate future unless the government supports the sector by introducing sensible controls that build traveller confidence while keeping the UK safe.
“We should allow all fully jabbed citizens and visitors to enter the UK with a negative Covid test. There should be no need for quarantine and excessive, expensive testing requirements.
“The next 30 days are critical to get travel back on track. That means abandoning the traffic lights system and reducing the current testing regime so that it is simpler and cheaper.”
WTTC’s annual 2021 Economic Impact Report (EIR) revealed that the dramatic collapse of the UK’s Travel & Tourism sector wiped out a staggering £148 billion from the UK economy last year.
Furthermore, in a year in which damaging travel restrictions and ineffective quarantines brought international travel to a grinding halt, a staggering 307,000 travel and tourism jobs were lost across the country.
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