Abta urges travel companies to complete energy bill support survey

Abta is encouraging its members and the wider industry to complete a survey being carried out by the government as part of its review of energy bill support.

The government announced in September that support would be provided to businesses up until the end of March 2023 to help them deal with the rising cost of energy bills.

It said it would carry out a review to establish which businesses may be eligible for help beyond the initial six-month period. This survey forms part of that review.

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The review will consider the effectiveness of the scheme so far, which groups remain particularly vulnerable to energy price rises, taking into account those least able to adjust and how to continue to support those businesses.

Travel companies can complete the survey here. The deadline for responses is 11.55pm on Monday, October 24. Each business should only put in one response to the survey.

Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at Abta, said: “The government wants to hear directly from businesses to inform its review on energy bill support.

“It is really important that the industry responds to the survey, so that the government understands the challenges facing the sector, and what rising costs mean for travel businesses.

“Abta will also be making the case on behalf of our members, including sharing the anonymous findings from the recent Future Travel Coalition survey.

“We’ll also be highlighting that the travel industry was the last to begin its recovery from the pandemic, which is one of the reasons why government should consider additional support for travel businesses.”

Abta is urging respondents to identify their businesses as being in the travel industry, as this will help the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to make assessments about which sectors should get further support.

When prompted, respondents should enter the SIC code applicable to their business registration with Companies House. For example: