Shapps chaired a meeting of the taskforce on Monday 1 March (Credit: @GrantShapps / Twitter)

Shapps chaired a meeting of the taskforce on Monday 1 March (Credit rating: @GrantShapps / Twitter)

The association was conspicuous by its absence from the conference chaired by transportation secretary Grant Shapps immediately after the Division for Transportation (DfT) offered the complete list of 31 attendees to TTG.

 

The checklist provided associates from throughout the aviation, maritime and intercontinental rail sectors, as very well as industry bodies such as VisitBritain, UKinbound and UKHospitality, but not Abta.

 

Abta confirmed to TTG on Wednesday there was a combine-up with its invitation. An spokesperson stressed the association would carry on to be “included and engaged” with the taskforce’s activities, including that it was promptly given a full recap of what was covered during the session.

The affiliation will host a roundtable with federal government officers on Thursday (4 March), along with associates of its Save Potential Journey coalition, to share insights. It is also talking to members about the proposals they want the association to place forward to the taskforce in long term.

 

“We are associated and engaged with the taskforce, and have experienced various discussions and meetings with governing administration about the get the job done of the taskforce, the locations they are hunting at and how we can feed into that to make sure travel agents and tour operators’ sights are listened to,” claimed the Abta spokesperson.

“We are speaking to users about proposals for restarting vacation to support information the World wide Journey Taskforce’s pondering and do the job.”