Luxury travel agents were out in force at the Travel Day of Action in London today (June 23) to pledge their support to the travel industry as it called on government to safely reopen travel and provide financial support to help the sector get through the crisis.

Aspire spoke to member agents on College Green in Westminster, where hundreds of travel professionals had gathered for one of three coordinated lobbies across London, Edinburgh and Belfast. 

Harrogate-based Ben Poole, who recently set up his own agency The Travel Journal, said the event was the first protest he had ever attended. 

“The Travel Day of Action is extremely important to me,” he said. “As a newly self-employed agency owner, I need my voice to be heard and my attendance is crucial for my business’ survival and mental health. 

“It’s such a rollercoaster of emotions and I know there will be lots of tears when I reunite with industry friends I haven’t seen for 19 months or longer.”

Kim Hart, managing director of Travelwise, and her team were also showing solidarity for the industry in Westminster. 

“I believe it’s really important to support this event, stand up with our industry colleagues and fight for our industry,” she said.

“We are meeting our MP and need to get the message across that this amazing industry is on its knees and without specific support in the form of Revenue Recovery Grants, extended furlough and continued business rates relief many incredible companies will not survive. 

“More important than the much-needed government help,  we all want international travel to safely re-start. Bar Israel we’re the leading country with vaccinations and yet we’re lagging behind the rest of Europe in terms of allowing international holidays without quarantine.

She added: “I attended the virtual ABTA Travel Matters conference yesterday and it was so depressing, the government has no understanding of how our industry works or maybe it does and they just don’t care – they are more interested in encouraging people to spend their money in the UK this summer and we as an industry are literally being thrown under the bus.

“If they insist on stopping us effectively trading then they need to put their hand in their pocket in order to save many thousands of jobs and livelihoods. Fingers crossed we will get the recognition we all deserve.”

Richard Frampton, of Hurlingham Travel, described the last 18 months as “horrific” and said he hoped the Travel Day of Action would provide much-needed awareness about how the industry operates.

“It's [about] exposure - there's so many people who don't actually seem to understand how the travel industry works, and hopefully today people learn that when people aren't travelling, we aren't earning so that's why I'm here to try and get that message across,” he said.

“A lot of people in travel have not actually stopped working because we're administrating existing bookings, old bookings or giving money back to clients who have already booked. Alongside that, when people aren't travelling, we're not earning any money, and there are so many people that have dropped through the nets of government support, which is horrific.

“I’ve got so many good friends here today who have lost their jobs or had to get second jobs just to make do - these people are dedicated to the industry and it's just really sad to see.

“They're completely viable businesses but through government restrictions they have just been run to the wall, through no fault of their own.”

Diane Coleman, of Tickets Travel in Bexley Village, said the government must act quickly to save “what’s left” of the travel industry.

“I’m here today to show support for everybody and I’m thinking about all those people that haven't made it this far,” she said.

“It’s been a tough 18 months and unfortunately lots of people have had to move out of the industry and it's just not fair, so hopefully they will start helping us before half of these people [on College Green] disappear as well. 

“The pandemic has been terrible, it's wiping us out. So many people are losing their jobs and their livelihoods. It's sad to see so many people go so we've got to save what's left.”

Pictured (left to right): Swords Travel, The Travel Journal, Select World Travel