AFTA UPDATE
THIS COVID-19 crisis will be with us for some considerable time and there is no question that we all need across the travel industry to really accept this and take actions now to sustain ourselves as best as humanly possible for six months.
No travel being taken does not have to mean no travel being booked. I have many reports that people are still booking for future travel and talking about making arrangements for travel in the future. I think the Australian travel bug is just in self-isolation but planning to get out is on some people’s minds.
It will end, that is for sure. When, I don’t know, but if the Prime Minister using all of the available resources of the Australian Federal Government is saying six months, then let’s get on board with that and plan for six months.
If the virus conditions we are now in change for the better sooner, then we can all take action sooner – but making decisions now to ensure that your travel business remains as a business for the future is the critical thing we must do.
Yesterday AFTA held two town hall webinars and we have never had so many people connect at once via this method. We outlined the serious and unprecedented circumstances that the industry faces and the many and broad actions AFTA is taking via engagement with the Federal Government to seek assistance, targeted assistance for everyone in the travel value chain.
The stimulus package announced will go some way to help and support the vast majority of travel businesses via financial assistance. It is not enough and we know that it is not enough. It is not targeted to travel businesses and adequate to elevate the many and vast issues that the travel industry faces today, tomorrow, next week and next month and the months beyond that, so we will just keep asking. Via the COVID-19 Business Liaison Unit (BLU) that has been established by the Federal Govt as an emergency function of the federal treasury, AFTA has made, and will continue to make, significant and serious submissions to get more support and action to help travel agents and the broader travel industry.
We will not stop asking. We will not stop trying to get help that fits into the travel industry and that helps quickly. Many of the measures announced will take time to decipher and process, but that should not be a reason not to look into it and grab anything and everything that you can. And then, if more comes, grab that also.
The challenges and issues facing the travel industry are deep and broad and complex. Cancellations, refunds, credit forward travel vouchers, divergence of conditions imposed by suppliers across all the sectors, complexities and complications – are in fact what the travel industry does in the normal course of business and this is because it is a complicated industry. COVID-19 has amplified these challenges and to unpack them quickly and get simple answers to complicated problems cannot happen fast enough. But, this is no reason to stop trying and all of us at AFTA will keep trying and supporting members and the broader industry during this crisis with a hope to find solutions and help that may save our industry.
Hang in there everyone… reach out and turn to friends and colleagues, sometimes just talking about it makes things seem better. AFTA is doing everything we can to get more help from the government and will do our level best to keep the industry up to date in this fast paced, ever moving crisis.