NZ agent support

AFTER seeming to ignore the plight of the travel industry for months, the New Zealand Government has come through with a NZ$47 million support package which will effectively see agents paid commission for securing refunds and credits for clients. The ingenious solution ticks all the political boxes, with NZ Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi saying the move will repatriate hundreds of millions of dollars that can now be spent in the local economy. While the announcement was well received, the elation was somewhat tempered with the news on the same day that the Travel Agents Association of New Zealand (TAANZ) would “disestablish” the role of its Chief Executive Officer, with Andrew Olsen having now departed the organisation because his position was “no longer affordable”. In Australia the industry continues to wait with bated breath for the outcome of AFTA’S $125 million budget submission, but there was some good news in Western Australia where the state government announced a $3 million industry-specific support package.

Many of these suppliers have been devastated by the suspension of cruise operations in a similar way to members of the travel and tourism industry Joel Katz, Cruise Lines International Association Managing Director