ABTA says agents should qualify for new grants but asks Govt. for confirmation

ABTA says it believes agents should be eligible for the new grants announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak for retail businesses this week after the Government confirmed that retail travel agents are amongst businesses that are legally required to close in Tier 4 areas of England.

However, ABTA’s Director of Public Affairs Luke Petherbridge said it was still seeking clarification from the Government regarding grant eligibility.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced this week that retail, hospitality and leisure businesses would share a £4bn support package, with each shop eligible for up to £9,000, depending on their rateable value.

There was concern that travel agents might not qualify for the grants since when the new Tier 4 restrictions were introduced last year, agents were initially told they must close along with other non-essential retailers but later told they could stay open.

Allowing agents to stay open would disqualify them from the Localised Restrictions Support Grants and, potentially, the new grants announced by the Chancellor this week.

But ABTA said today that the Government has since published amended regulations that explicitly reference retail travel agents as businesses that are forced to close in Tier 4.

ABTA says that this confirmation from Government is a welcome step in ensuring agents in England are eligible for grant support under the Localised Restrictions Support Grants (closed) regime.

Following lobbying from ABTA and other trade associations, the devolved nations had already clarified that grants support for businesses in the highest levels of restrictions would be extended to retail travel agents, but the UK Government had previously failed to provide this clarity for businesses in England.

ABTA has been having ongoing discussions with officials in the Westminster Government to argue that this approach must be matched in England. "As part of this effort, we recently surveyed travel agent members, working with our partners in the Save Future Travel Coalition, to produce the evidence required to demonstrate that retail travel agents are dependent on in-person trade," it said in a statement today.

Luke Petherbridge added: "Securing grant funding for travel businesses has been a key focus of ABTA’s work in recent months. The confirmation from the UK Government today builds on actions by the Devolved Administrations on this matter and should bring an end to the postcode lottery of grants experienced by agents.

"We are pleased to see the Government has listened to our calls for clarification and acted on it today. We also believe it should mean that travel agents are eligible for the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure businesses grants, although we are still awaiting the specific Government guidance on this.

"While accessing the grant schemes will provide some help to struggling businesses, these are related to the lockdown and stay at home orders. We have not yet seen sector-specific support to take account of the unique challenges that the travel industry has faced throughout the last ten months, including frequent changes to travel corridors, and restrictions on many destinations across the globe through FCDO travel advice, which have seriously affected the ability of businesses to trade.

"ABTA will continue to push for tailored support, including the urgency of getting financial help to those who have not been able to access existing support mechanisms, such as Directors of limited companies, and the many travel businesses that do not have rateable values."

All areas of England entered the revised Tier 4 restrictions, under the latest national lockdown, from today.