Ahead of the Spring Budget on 6 March 2024, The Advantage Travel Partnership, the UK’s largest independent travel agent partnership, canvased its members to find out more about the specific challenges they are facing and their ambitions for their businesses over the year ahead.

The survey of Advantage members revealed that 44 percent of respondents are still servicing COVID-19 debt. The pandemic severely impacted both leisure and business travel and many businesses were forced to use their own capital reserves to sustain their operations during the pandemic as they were continuing to operate at full capacity to serve customers cancelling and/or changing bookings. This meant travel agents couldn’t ‘shut up shop’ and take full advantage of government support such as the furlough scheme. Although the industry has had a very strong recovery since the pandemic, businesses are still suffering from the dept incurred at the time alongside higher operating costs.

The survey of Advantage members also revealed that high interest rates are impacting the businesses of 29 percent of respondents, as they experience strained cash flow and increased financial pressures. Cash flow can be a big challenge for travel agents as they don’t see the profits they make from booking a trip until the trip takes place. In terms of challenges for the year ahead, Advantage members also reported concerns about staff recruitment, wage increases, the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, higher prices, high corporation tax and consumer confidence.

Regardless of these challenges, the survey showed business owners are prioritising investing in future proofing their businesses this year with almost a quarter of respondents saying they were looking to invest in people, 12 percent said they were looking to invest in online booking tools and despite the decline of the British high streets, 7 percent said they were looking to invest in new trading locations.

Chief Executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership, Julia Lo Bue-Said, said: “The UK outbound travel industry remains a key contributor to both local and national economy and research has shown on average consumers spend an additional £200 per person in the UK before travelling overseas and international travel annually contributes a further £80bn to the UK economy. It is therefore of paramount importance that the UK Government recognises the contribution that the industry makes and is supported in its growth. It’s really encouraging to see that our members are looking to invest in their businesses this year but there is no doubt that they will need the support of the government as the industry navigates continued geopolitical challenges and economic uncertainty, to ensure that this growth can take place.

We have worked with our UK Outbound Travel Group partners, The Specialist Travel Association (AITO, www.aito.com), and The Association of Bonded Travel Organisers Trust (ABTOT) to submit policy requests to the Treasury ahead of the budget which we believe are necessary to ensure the industry can continue to grow and in turn support UK economic growth. Our recommendations include reduction of business rates and financial support for business owners in the travel sector who are still struggling to pay back loans taken out during the pandemic, so that these businesses may recover and thrive once again.”