AFTA UPDATE

From the Australian Federation of Travel Agents

Just as the green shoots of spring are starting to show, the reality of a more normal way of living is just around the corner. What exactly that “new normal” will look like, which will depend on which state or territory you’re in, will see the easing up of restrictions in the core driver markets of Sydney and Melbourne.

The fuelling of consumer and corporate confidence that will flow from this should not be underestimated.

But as we keep saying, we need more than confidence.

We need support now and until international travel and cruising are well and truly back to normal. Austrade have confirmed they are edging ever closer to finalising outstanding claims under Round 2 of the Consumer Travel Grant.

It shouldn’t be this hard and it shouldn’t take this long. We urgently need these outstanding cases finalised. It’s already dire and getting worse and we need a commonsense approach rapidly injected into making sure the delivery of the Grant supports the political intent to support our sector through this so we can keep supporting consumers. We continue to provide feedback to government and are pushing for finalisation of Round 3. AFTA also continues to lobby hard on the desperate need for a more effective rollout of the Federal Government’s 80% Loan Guarantee – despite the intent, the reality is that too many banks still classify our sector as high risk, rendering the guarantee ineffective and leaving travel businesses with no hope of access.

Behind the scenes, the work continues to future proof our sector and organisation.

As part of this, AFTA’s Constitutional Review is underway.

As flagged in our AFTA annual report, the Board Sub-Committee will oversee the evolution of our constitution and the review of our membership structure which is now in place.

And we keep doing what we can to bring forward as many green shoots as possible.