Tourism operators appeal for support
TOURISM bosses are calling for increased government support for wholesalers and operators, saying this “hidden” part of the industry will struggle long after airlines, travel agents and hotels return to normal trade.
A new $128m federal government scheme giving eligible travel agents one-off payments of up to $100,000 was welcome news for the sector last week.
But industry leaders said outbound travel operators and wholesalers were also on their knees as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the payment, announced on Tuesday, “recognises that travel agents are operating in an exceptional set of circumstances where most are having to refund last year’s income while continuing to work with no additional income”.
The announcement of the scheme came in a week of mixed fortunes for the industry that saw some state borders reopen, but also confirmation that Qantas would be outsourcing more than 2000 ground support roles at Australian airports.
Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) managing director Brett Jardine said much of the support focus to date had been on the inbound tourism sector, but it ultimately could not prosper without a healthy outbound sector.
Australians spent $52bn on overseas travel in 2019, but as much as $20bn of that money actually stayed in Australia, Mr Jardine said.
“As outbound travel operators, we are completely complementary to Australia’s inbound tourism sector, because at the end of the day aeroplanes have got to have bums on seats in both directions. If there’s not people going out of Australia at the same time as people coming in, then aviation capacity is going to be reduced, full stop.”
CATO has called for an industry extension of the JobKeeper program beyond March, and a $12m grant from the government’s COVID Relief and Recovery Fund to aid business recovery.
The $12m would help develop protocols for COVIDsafe travel, an industry standard for booking terms and conditions, and training in crisis management, Mr Jardine said.
“Ultimately, if there’s no one developing, distributing or marketing product, retail travel agents have got nothing to sell. So our position is you’ve got to support the supply side that will in turn naturally underpin the retail side,” Mr Jardine said.
Travel wholesaler Dennis Bunnik said while the visible parts of the tourism industry such as hotels and attractions could “bounce back quickly”, for wholesalers and operators it would take much longer.
“In essence, we’re the manufacturing sector of the industry,” he said. “We take all of those products, we put them together in unique combinations, and then we sell them through travel agents and online, and it’s only when the person actually travels that we make our money.”