Finance Minister must move to support travel industry

Mr Donaldson said the industry had been decimated by the pandemic and required additional support.

The DUP Leader said.

“Our outbound travel providers have been utterly decimated by the pandemic. The introduction of further restrictions upon UK travellers has resulted in these businesses being officially open, but effectively closed.

The sector cannot simply continue to endure these unsustainable losses.

The situation has become untenable for many of these businesses and without support from government, job losses will be the inevitable outcome.

The UK Government has provided the Northern Ireland Executive with additional funding in response to the Omicron variant and the Finance Minister must move urgently to get this funding support out to those in need without delay.

Travel Agents are at the heart of our high streets across Northern Ireland, employing over 700 people. The reality is that many of these businesses will be lost, if support is not forthcoming urgently.”