news election special
Survey results
Election 2010: your key issues
TWO OUT of three consumers (64%) have been deterred from buying flights by Air Passenger Duty. Yet the vast majority do not know what it is for, according to TTG’s Vote For Travel survey of travel agents, carried out over the past month.
Nearly nine out of 10 agents
(88%) said they believed their cus- tomers did not understand the reasons for APD, emphasising how initial government efforts to promote it as a green tax failed. The findings are among a string of agents’ opinions on key travel issues at the election, which have been delivered to the parties following the completion of the survey. The Vote For Travel report also found that eight out of 10 (83%) of agents do not think there is a need for more airports in the UK. Of the few that did, there was a strong preference for the south-west and the Midlands, with the south-east – where plans for a third runway at Heathrow were recently blocked in the High Court – trail- ing in third place. Interestingly, following an opening four
months of the year that has seen waves of severe travel disruption – from BA strikes to volcanic ash – two out of three (67%) of agents think the government should intervene in industrial disputes in future.
The final tally of the survey confirms that the Tories will take
the lion’s share of the travel vote when agents go to the polls next week,
with 34% intending to vote Conservative, and Labour and the Lib Dems taking just 12% of the vote each – although a huge 36% are undecided. Key priorities for the new government were named as fixing the economy through cutting public spending, while lower taxes on travel – including a cut in APD – and more action on the environment were also near the top of agents’ wishlists.
■More from the Vote For Travel report will be revealed in the next issue of TTG. Our full findings will then be delivered to every MP following the election – offering a barometer of the sector and the issues affecting it
WHO WILL YOU VOTE FOR IN THE ELECTION?
12% 34% 12% 5% 37%
88% 12%
ttglive.com
APD
Air Passenger Duty: do customers understand the reasons for it?
Yes
No
Does APD deter them from buying flights?
10 20 30 40 50 60
0
54% 36% 10% 0%
Never Occasionally Often Always
10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
0
Protection
How often do customers ask about consumer protection?
47%
36%
Never
9%
8%
Occasionally Often Always
Do customers choose a holiday that has protection over one that does not?
10 20 30 40 50
0
44% 28%
Never
5%
Airports
Do we need more airports in this country?
83%
Labour
12
30.04.2010
Lib Dems Conservatives
Undecided
Other
Yes No
17%
23%
Occasionally
Often
Always
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