AFTA UPDATE

From Dean Long, CEO

YESTERDAY I attended a meeting with the NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres on a pre-budget briefing.

These briefings are essential activity for AFTA as state governments seek to address some of the fundamental challenges the community is facing and aligning to what business requires.

What was clear from the discussions, was that women and families will be the upcoming beneficiaries of next week’s state budget.

It was really pleasing to hear the Treasurer has made it a priority that he wants a childcare policy that will drive female participation.

While we await the details, this is a paradigm shift that will encourage greater female participation in our workforce and encourage many travel professionals back to the travel sector.

This week, we also saw the Federal Government make some significant overtures toward improving the relationship between Indonesia and Australia.

Central to this was a forwardlooking statement about improving the visa process and subsequent fees for Australians to visit Indonesia, including Bali.

We all know that pre-COVID-19 Bali was Australia’s number one holiday destination, with over one million people each year holidaying there.

However, we always heard from our clients that the confusion caused by arrival fees for visas was a constant frustration point.

We need to see reform in this space, and we are hopeful that things may change for the betterment of Australians travelling to the Pacific with this new government.

AFTA has joined with our American colleagues at the American Society of Travel Advisors in calling for the end of pre-trip testing for travellers wanting to enter the USA.

Pre-trip testing must be removed if we are to increase the speed of our recovery.

This week I have written to the American Chargé d’Affaires in Canberra and Consul Generals in Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth, encouraging the American Government to remove Australia from pre-trip testing.

AFTA’s relationships globally continue to benefit the whole sector by ensuring we collaborate to make it easier for Australians to travel. Finally, this week, AFTA has continued to publish its monthly dashboard of activity Here and continue our focus on transparency of delivery to members and the sector.

We carry out these essential activities to ensure it is easier for you to carry on your business at your peak association.