Eliana Willis

ABTA – The Travel Association has written to Conservative leadership candidates Rt Hon Liz Truss MP and Rishi Sunak MP to outline what is needed to support the UK travel industry through its recovery from the COVID pandemic, and to ensure a prosperous future for the sector.
The letter, sent from Chief Executive Mark Tanzer at the end of last week, explained the value of the UK international travel industry to the UK economy, as well as its role in supporting hundreds of thousands jobs and as a driver of growth.
It also says that to grasp the opportunities that lie ahead for the travel industry, and wider economy, it is essential that a constructive and ongoing dialogue is maintained between industry leaders, Ministers and officials. In particular, ABTA reiterated its call for clear ministerial responsibility to bring together the various strands of policy that affect international travel, and which fall across a number of Government departments.
Other issues raised as part of the letter included the industry’s commitment to net-zero in line with DfT’s Jet Zero Strategy, with investment in Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) and delivery of airspace modernisation as priorities. The importance of finding workable solutions to UK-EU labour mobility challenges was also emphasised, along with other matters relating to the UK’s departure from the EU. 
Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA – The Travel Association said:ADVERTISEMENT“The current travel landscape shows just how important it is that ABTA continues to impress on all politicians the value of the UK’s international travel industry to the UK economy. The political changes present an opportunity to reiterate what we need from this Government to ensure a prosperous and sustainable industry, and how we need to work together to achieve this. Our engagement with the candidates for Prime Minster builds on our ongoing work with Government, including recent meetings with Minsters and our work with officials and MPs from across all parties.”

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A new study by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed the recovery of France’s Travel & Tourism is at risk as more than 70,000 jobs remain unfilled across the country.
The research looked into labour shortages across France and other major Travel & Tourism destinations, such as the U.S., Italy, Spain, the UK and Portugal.
According to the global tourism body, the supply of labour could fail to match the increased travel demand across the sector, which is estimated to be near pre-pandemic levels by the third quarter of 2022.
The data shows France is expected to see a shortfall of 71,000 jobs, with one in 19 vacancies left unfilled this year.
In 2019, before the pandemic, more than 1.3 million people were employed by Travel & Tourism in France. But by 2020, nearly 175,000* had lost their jobs.ADVERTISEMENTFrance saw the beginning of the recovery in 2021, with a 40.6% growth to the sector’s contribution to the national economy. However, staff shortages have been prevalent in the country, with thousands of vacancies that remain unfilled, putting the sector under pressure.
WTTC analysis shows France’s aviation is expected to be one of the worst affected, struggling to find candidates for nearly one in three (38%) job postings, while travel agencies could also face one third (39%) of staff shortages.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO said: “The sector needs more staff to meet the current demand. The widespread travel disruption being experienced by millions of French holidaymakers is clear evidence of this.
“If these 71,000 jobs remain unfilled, they could threaten the revival of Travel & Tourism businesses up and down the country, which have struggled for more than two years from the impact of the pandemic.”
Last week WTTC revealed that up to 1.2 million jobs across the EU will remain unfulfilled, with hospitality, aviation, and travel agencies being the most affected.
Some of the key measures identified in the report for both governments and the private sector to address the talent gap are:1.  Facilitate labour mobility across international borders, with more favourable visa policies 2.  Enable flexible and remote working where feasible – allowing part time or contractor-based opportunities, where possible3.  Ensure decent work and competitive employee benefits and compensation packages4.  Attract talent by improving the perception of jobs and promoting viable career paths with growth opportunities5.  Develop and support a skilled workforce through comprehensive educational programs, as well as upskilling and reskilling current talent6.  Adopt innovative technological and digital solutions to alleviate pressure on staff, improve daily operations and provide an enhanced customer experience.
The global tourism body believes by implementing these measures, Travel & Tourism businesses will be able to attract more workers.
This in turn would enable the sector to meet the ever-growing consumer demand and further speed up its recovery, which is the backbone to generating economic well-being across the country.

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International tourism continues to show signs of a strong and steady recovery from the impact of the pandemic despite significant mounting economic and geopolitical challenges.
According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, international tourism saw a strong rebound in the first five months of 2022, with almost 250 million international arrivals recorded. This compares to 77 million arrivals from January to May 2021 and means that the sector has recovered almost half (46%) of pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
“The recovery of tourism has gathered pace in many parts of the world, weathering the challenges standing in its way”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. At the same time, he also advises caution in view of the “economic headwinds and geopolitical challenges which could impact the sector in the remainder of 2022 and beyond”.
Europe and Americas lead recovery
Europe welcomed more than four times as many international arrivals as in the first five months of 2021 (+350%), boosted by strong intra-regional demand and the removal of all travel restrictions in a growing number of countries. The region saw particularly robust performance in April (+458%), reflecting a busy Easter period. In the Americas, arrivals more than doubled (+112%). However, the strong rebound is measured against weak results in 2021 and arrivals remain overall 36% and 40% below 2019 levels in both regions, respectively.ADVERTISEMENTThe same pattern is seen across other regions. The strong growth in the Middle East (+157%) and Africa (+156%) remained 54% and 50% below 2019 levels respectively, and Asia and the Pacific almost doubled arrivals (+94%), though numbers were 90% below 2019, as some borders remained closed to non-essential travel. Here, the recent easing of restrictions can be seen in improved results for April and May.
Looking at subregions, several have recovered between 70% and 80% of their pre-pandemic levels, led by the Caribbean and Central America, followed by Southern Mediterranean, Western and Northern Europe. It is noteworthy that some destinations surpassed 2019 levels, including US Virgin Islands, St. Maarten, the Republic of Moldova, Albania, Honduras and Puerto Rico.
Tourism spending also rising
Rising tourism spending out of the major source markets is consistent with the observed recovery. International expenditure by tourists from France, Germany, Italy and the United States is now at 70% to 85% of pre-pandemic levels, while spending from India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has already exceeded 2019 levels.
In terms of international tourism receipts earned in destinations, a growing number of countries – the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Seychelles, Romania, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Albania, Pakistan, Sudan, Türkiye, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Mexico, Croatia and Portugal – have fully recovered their pre-pandemic levels.
Defying mounting challenges
Strong demand during the Northern Hemisphere summer season is expected to consolidate these positive results, particularly as more destinations ease or lift travel restrictions. As of 22 July, 62 destinations (of which 39 in Europe) had no COVID-19 related restrictions in place and an increasing number of destinations in Asia have started to ease theirs.
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the overall reduction in international air capacity in 2022 will be limited to 20% to 25% of seats offered by airlines as compared to 2019. Such resilience is also reflected in hotel occupancy rates. Based on data from the industry benchmarking firm STR, global occupancy rates climbed to 66% in June 2022, from 43% in January. 
However, stronger than expected demand has created significant operational and workforce challenges, while the war in Ukraine, rising inflation and interest rates, as well as fears of an economic slowdown continue to pose a risk to recovery. The International Monetary Fund points to a global economic slowdown from 6.1% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and then to 2.9% in 2023. At the same time, UNWTO continues to work closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to monitor the pandemic as well as emerging public health emergencies and their potential impact on travel.
Regional Scenarios for 2022
UNWTO’s forward-looking scenarios published in May 2022 point to international arrivals reaching 55% to 70% of pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Results depend on evolving circumstances, mostly changing travel restrictions, ongoing inflation, including high energy prices, and overall economic conditions, the evolution of the war in Ukraine, as well as the health situation related to the pandemic. More recent challenges such as staff shortages, severe airport congestion and flight delays and cancellations could also impact international tourism numbers.
Scenarios by region show Europe and Americas recording the best tourism results in 2022, while Asia and the Pacific is expected to lag behind due to more restrictive travel policies. International tourist arrivals in Europe could climb to 65% or 80% of 2019 levels in 2022, depending on various conditions, while in the Americas they could reach 63% to 76% of those levels.
In Africa and the Middle East arrivals could reach about 50% to 70% of pre-pandemic levels, while in Asia and the Pacific they would remain at 30% of 2019 levels in the best-case scenario, due to stricter policies and restrictions.

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New research by leading travel trade association UKinbound suggests that the resurgence of the UK’s inbound tourism industry is being led by couples and empty nesters, adults whose children have left home, from international markets, but supply chain capacity and staffing issues could slow down recovery.
The association, which represents over 300 UK tourism businesses that service international tourists visiting the UK (inbound tourism), undertook its latest business barometer member survey in June/July 2022.
Conducted by Qa Research, businesses stated that couples and empty nesters were the fastest returning international demographic, closely followed by families. Additionally, the US market continues to recover the strongest, with more than one in three businesses seeing growth from this market.
In contrast, businesses were asked, looking at the remainder of the year, what they expect to be their biggest barriers to recovery. Supply chain capacity is a leading concern, closely followed by the recruitment and retention of staff. The UK’s international competitiveness, alongside inflation and energy costs, were also highlighted as concerns.
However, 78% of UK tourism businesses stated that they are confident about the impending 12 months, compared to just 11% in April 2020. ADVERTISEMENTThe survey also asked members to compare their 2022 summer forecast (July, August and September) to the same time pre-pandemic. Over half (54%) expect international visitor bookings and numbers to be lower than pre-pandemic, while, one in five expect them to be higher during this period.
Nearly a third of inbound tourism businesses are expecting higher revenue levels compared to pre-Covid, however this trend was not shared across all businesses. 71% of attractions and 57% of tour operators expect to have lower revenue compared to pre-pandemic.
Joss Croft, CEO of UKinbound commented “From couples and empty nesters to families, it’s fantastic to see international consumers returning to experience the UK’s diverse tourism offering. The opening of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham this week is just one of the many reasons international visitors are choosing to holiday in the UK this year.
“We’ve also seen real pent-up demand from the US market, with people taking their deferred 2020 and 2021 holidays in the UK this summer, but international tourism is very competitive, and we can’t assume this boom will continue.
“Our industry is facing a number of challenges to its recovery, with supply chain capacity being heavily affected by businesses’ ability to secure the skilled staff that they need, alongside inflation and rising energy costs.
“Additionally, if we are to retain our crown as a world-leading tourist destination, and the economic benefits that come with this, we need to ensure that the UK has competitive visa, immigration and border systems, invests in the promotion of Britain abroad and that visitors receive a first-class welcome.”
“Looking forward, it’s critical that the impending new Government implement policies and funding that support the recovery and growth of businesses across this sector.”

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