THE Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) has welcomed the opening of the Trans-Tasman travel corridor from April 19, announced today by New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinta Ardern.

AFTA chairman Tom Manwaring said the ability to travel between Australia and New Zealand without quarantining was a much-needed confidence boost for the travel industry, but warned of the need for "a consistent approach to keeping the corridor open".

“The opening of the Trans-Tasman travel corridor from April 19 is a greatly needed boost to consumer confidence in both markets and many of our members are seeing increased interest in booking New Zealand, albeit primarily to visit friends and family," Mr Manwarrng said. 

“It’s not a massive increase in business and our sector still desperately needs support but it is a much needed step in the right direction.

“However, we urge both the Australian and the New Zealand governments to do all they can to ensure now the corridor is open that it stays open. This is important both in terms of consumer confidence in booking travel and from a workload perspective for travel agents who are still working hard on repatriating the outstanding $4 billion still owed to Australians by airlines, hotels and tour operators on COVID-impacted travel and managing re-bookings and cancellations as a result of state restrictions.”

ATEC ALSO BACKS MOVE

The Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has also welcomed the announcement of a travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand to start in the middle of April.

ATEC said the initiative would "help to re-establish some of Australia’s long term travel relationships and marks the first step in reopening our export tourism industry to international visitors".

“Our industry will be very happy to hear that a travel bubble has been agreed between the Australian and New Zealand governments which will see one of our most significant markets back online,” ATEC managing director Peter Shelley said. “Australian tourism businesses, like those across the world, have suffered severely with the closure of international borders and this marks an initial step towards re-establishing our $45 billion annual export industry.

“Thousands of tourism businesses across the country have suffered a severe drop in their income with the closure of international borders and many are simply holding on for announcements like this." 
 
Mr Shelley said a recent ATEC survey of the export industry showed Australian inbound tour operators (ITOs) were suffering the most under the international border closures with 80 percent operating with less than 10 percent of their pre-COVID revenue.

“While our tourism product supplier members are doing their best to turn to the domestic market and are working hard to make ends meet, ITOs are only staying afloat with the help of the Federal Government's travel agent grants program now that the JobKeeper subsidy has ended.

“Without the re-opening of borders or the certainty provided by ongoing government support, a large number of ITOs will be out of business within months, taking with them a significant pipeline of forward bookings made by international travellers and millions of dollar’s in revenue.

“ITO’s are the businesses which sell Australian tourism product across the world and while they are small in number, they deliver a huge amount of business across the country, especially to regional areas which have developed strong destination appeal for international visitors.

“The reopening of international borders will be wholeheartedly welcomed across the industry and particularly by those businesses whose entire future rests on international visitation.”

www.afta.com.au

www.atec.net.au

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BRINGING BUSINESS events back to Brisbane is the focus of a funding package announced this week by Brisbane Economic Development Agency (Brisbane EDA).

Brisbane EDA general manager of tourism, business and major events, Juliet Alabaster said providing support to attract more business events back to the city was key for the economic recovery of the events industry. Applications are now open, she said.

“As part of our wider ‘Brisbane. Even Better with You’ campaign, we are offering event planners and businesses a cash incentive to make it easier for them to choose Brisbane for their next face-to-face conference or incentive event,” Ms Alabaster said. 

“This funding can be used to either deliver an enhanced delegate experience through an upgraded event program, or contribute to reducing the overall cost of their event as some welcome budget relief.”

Ms Alabaster encouraged event planners to reach out, get free advice, and find out more about the exceptional experience Brisbane can give delegates.

“Brisbane is a fantastic city, with our warm weather, vibrant open-air restaurants, world-class venues and cultural attractions and outstanding hotels to choose from,” Ms Alabaster said.

“We know our local industry has experienced incredibly challenging conditions the past year and we want to provide a helping hand to encourage more Brisbane business events bookings -- to boost our local economy and support our local businesses, accommodation providers and our service industry.

“We want to instil confidence in event planners that Brisbane is ready to host their next event, and they can expect our signature warm welcome when they do.”

The package includes funding of $50 per person for eligible business events held between March 2021 and December 2022 and must be booked at a Brisbane venue by June 30, 2021.

Apply at choosebrisbane.com.au/conventions.

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THE Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has welcomed the Federal Government's Consumer Travel Support Program's range of support measures for travel and tourism, "particularly those focused on safeguarding the future of the beleaguered tourism export sector" -- but warns it is "not the perfect support package".

The Accommodation Association said while programs will support many tourism regions which were hard hit by bushfires and then the subsequent shut downs, "unfortunately the package does not support our two major international gateways of Sydney and Melbourne". 

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) said it would continue to work with the Federal Government to ensure that the extension of the COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program provides support to those travel businesses who most need it.

According to ATEC, although many operators were unlikely to receive a direct benefit, tourism businesses across the country indicated they would potentially benefit from some measures, especially those in regional and remote areas as well as vital supply chain distributors.

"The challenge export tourism businesses face is staying afloat until international borders reopen. With JobKeeper off the table, the ability to retain staff while revenue is at an all-time low will be very difficult," ATEC managing director Peter Shelley said.   

“The past 12 months has seen many tourism businesses with little or no income and many would have already gone to the wall without the JobKeeper support. On the positive the package will deliver much needed support to regions dependent on international visitors with the flight subsidy program and other measures aimed at supporting and re-invigorating key destinations.

“The extension of the Travel Agents grants program will be critical for the commercial survival of the inbound tour operator businesses which have underpinned the success of our inbound tourism industry for the past 50 years by being the primary distribution channel for international visitors travelling to Australia," Mr Shelley said.

“The loan scheme will also provide an important safety net for many businesses but there will still be countless operators making the tough decision to shed valuable skilled employees without the continuation of JobKeeper. It’s critical state governments recognise the importance of their borders remaining open and all governments commit to a tourism restart timeline which is vital to the survival of thousands of small tourism businesses across the country.

“The next step will be to see our international visitors back but while the date remains uncertain, our export tourism businesses will continue to need support and this package will go some way in helping them continue their scaled-down operations," he said.

“It is vital these businesses survive through until our borders open so they can help the industry quickly reconnect with international visitors and start to sell these regional tourism products to overseas guests.

“I think we all agree it’s an imperfect package, but we welcome the components which support the valuable $45 billion inbound tourism sector. The concern shared by many is will it be enough to support businesses reliant on international tourism which continues to have an uncertain restart date."

Accomodating the challenges

According to the Accommodation Association, bith the Sydney and Melbourne markets currently have a forward booking rate of less than 10 percent for the next 90 days.

Accommodation Association CEO Dean Long said, "For Sydney and Melbourne, where 80 percent of the market is from international and corporate markets which are still not operating due to government restrictions, the lack of support in this package will result in a loss of jobs and slow our recovery once borders are open.  

“Our hotels in these two major international gateways currently have a forward booking rate of less than 10 percent for the next 90 days and desperately need immediate support," he said.

“Our workforce is highly skilled and the government has not provided the support for our skilled chefs, waiters, revenue managers and duty managers in the same way as they have for airlines. This means it will have a dramatic negative impact once international borders open and we don’t have the team members to provide the high service levels they demand.

“Loans are only helpful when you have a level of certainty of revenue to service debts and a clear strategy to keep the economy open. Without this, Australia’s accommodation businesses can’t take on new debit even if banks are prepared to lend to them.

“The Accommodation Association will be making urgent representations to the Federal Government for additional support to ensure our important Sydney and Melbourne accommodation sectors get the support so urgently needed," Mr Long said.
 
Mr Long said in order to preserve a base from which the tourism and accommodation sectors can rebuild, the Accommodation Association’s Pre-Budget submission also seeks a range of urgent support measures including:

• Support workers of the Accommodation Sector so they are treated the same as airlines;
• Implementation of a consistent national health strategy to manage virus outbreaks without closing state borders to restore confidence in interstate travel;
• The creation of a level playing field through the introduction of a sharing economy third-party reporting regime in FY21/22 which requires sharing economy platforms to report to the ATO for data matching purposes;
• Development of a clear national plan to open international borders that has State and Territory commitment.

AFTA goes to bat for travel agents

AFTA Chair Tom Manwaring said while the details of the Federal Government’s tourism and aviation $1.2 billion recovery package were still to be released, the support "is a very welcome and much needed injection for a sector on its knees"

He said  Tourism Minister Dan Tehan confirmed at the launch media conference that an additional $128 million would be added to the $128 million COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program. 

AFTA has asked the Federal Government to anchor the additional support within a framework that is relevant to agency costs and promotes the retention of key expertise within the sector.

“Our sector which relies almost entirely on international travel slammed to a shut in February last year," Mr Manwarring said. "Nine out of 10 travel businesses have been surviving on a decline in revenue of 90 percent since then and most businesses have experienced at least a 70 percent decline.

“Without ongoing support, our sector will be decimated, leaving Australian consumers with nowhere to turn to assist with the estimated $4 billion in refunds from global airlines, hotels and tour operators. Collapse of our sector will also leave the country without the skill set to support the COVID minefield of travel once the international border is liberated.

“Without tailored support we will see eight in 10 people still working in travel out of a job, and three in 10 businesses having to close with a further 52 percent uncertain about their future. We all understand the urgency and critical nature of resolving this.” 

AFTA CEO Darren Rudd said, "“The ongoing refinement of the COVID-19 support package to ensure equitable distribution of funds across the breadth of our sector is continuing as a priority and AFTA will keep on working daily with Austrade to make sure support gets to where it is so desperately needed. This is our major priority.”

A recent survey of 1513 AFTA members showed:

• 67% are small and medium retail leisure agencies;
• 94% are dealing with a decline in revenue of 90% (with 99% experiencing at least a 70% decline);
• 80% of the workforce of travel agents businesses are women;
• 81% of all travel businesses’ work is helping customers with COVID-impacted travel – there is still $4 Billion in refunds and credits which travel agents are working to repatriate from international airlines, hotels and tour operators on behalf of Australian consumers on top of the $6 billion already secured;
• 43% believe they are unlikely to return to profit until 2023.

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