ABTA – The Travel Association is the UK’s largest travel industry trade body, representing approximately 1,200 members operating across 5,000+ locations. With an aggregate annual turnover exceeding £40bn, ABTA’s lobbying focuses on preserving travel benefits between the UK and EU post-Brexit. Key priorities include health security cooperation, consumer protection frameworks, and regulatory alignment to minimize travel disruptions. Post-Brexit challenges dominate ABTA’s EU advocacy, particularly the loss of access to EU health surveillance systems like the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Legionnaires’ Disease Surveillance Network (ELDSNet). This has impaired ABTA’s ability to monitor health risks for UK travelers in the EU1. ABTA advocates for the UK to secure affiliate membership in ECDC or similar data-sharing mechanisms to restore real-time health alerts.
Consumer protection remains a core focus, with ABTA lobbying for harmonized application of the Package Travel Directive and Passenger Rights legislation across the EU and UK. Sustainability initiatives (e.g., EU Green Deal impacts) and animal welfare standards (e.g., pet passport replacements) are additional priorities. Financial lobbying costs have increased from €250,000 (2020–2021) to €300,000–€399,999 (2022–2023), reflecting intensified post-Brexit engagement. ABTA collaborates with ECTAA (European Travel Agents Association) but discloses no direct high-level EU Commission meetings
