Tour operators warn of mass job losses after closure of job retention scheme

The vast majority of tour operators expect to make sweeping redundancies once the UK government’s job retention scheme comes to an end, with more than half of firms expecting to fold within six months, according to a new survey.

Six out of ten operators say they will be forced to lay off staff in August unless there is renewed support, with nearly nine in ten warning the situation is so bad, they may have to make between a quarter and all of their staff redundant.

Some 53 per cent of businesses said that the economic pain inflicted on the tourism industry means that they will go bust within half a year.

The survey, carried out by the tourism trade association, Ukinbound, spells out the widespread fears and uncertainty in a sector responsible for looking after half of all international visitors to UK.

Joss Croft, the association’s chief executive, said that while the chancellor’ s latest economic recovery plans recognise the value of hospitality and tourism to the UK economy, the measures that have been announced so far will not help the many businesses that are involved in inbound tourism.

He said: “Our survey results reinforce that those tourism businesses that rely wholly on international visitors for their livelihoods are on their knees and that the risk of widespread redundancies and collapse of previously successful businesses is a real threat without further government support.

“Before the pandemic, the UK was the 7th most visited country in the world but generally there is a low awareness of how much international visitors contribute to our economies.

“Similarly, there is generally a low awareness among international travellers of what to do in the UK outside London, and it is the tour operators who generate a large proportion of visitation to the UK’S nations and regions.”