Representatives of both the Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO) and the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) have been in recent talks with the Federal Tourism Minister, Simon Birmingham, to further lobby on behalf of their members for urgent relief and support while the travel industry is in stasis.
As reported in the Daily Telegraph, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham had talks with AFTA and individual travel agents last week, to once again hammer home the dire situation COVID-19 has placed Australian agents in, unlike any other business.
The article, TROUBLED TRAVEL SECTOR’S LIFELINE, says the Federal government is working on a relief package to support agents until international borders reopen.
AFTA has confirmed those discussions are centred on the specifics of the package, and it will keep travel members informed when the outcome is ready to be communicated.
Read the article HERE.
L-R: Meeting on 18 November 2020 – Brett Jardine (CATO Managing Director), Dennis Bunnik (CATO Chairman), Senator the Hon. Simon Birmingham
CATO managing director, Brett Jardine and Chairman, Dennis Bunnik, also spoke with Senator Birmingham last week, meeting with the Minister at his Adelaide office.
Senator Birmingham acknowledged CATO’s efforts as an industry body in liaising with government departments including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade (DFAT), and CATO provided an update on its broad engagement across the industry locally and overseas, and its work with the travel insurance sector in preparation for the post-COVID recovery.
Lengthy discussion focused on the structure of Australia’s outbound travel industry and the role CATO members take to invest in, develop, market, distribute and deliver product that is sold primarily through retail travel agents.
CATO highlighted with Senator Birmingham the position of the land-supply sector that underpins 40,000 travel industry jobs here in Australia, that subsequently plays an integral role in the success of aviation into and out of Australia, that is 100% complimentary to Australia’s inbound tourism sector and delivers AU$20 billion in economic impact to this country.
CATO Managing Director, Brett Jardine advised Senator Birmingham that, “the majority of product developed by our sector is distributed through retail travel agencies, and CATO members will play a vital role in enabling Australians to travel again safely once the borders reopen.
“Not only are our member’s products sold by travel agents for Australians to experience holidays all over the world, CATO members are also heavily invested in domestic holidays that have a significant positive economic impact on regional Australia, and will be first to market, investing in product and reemploying staff as we emerge from COVID.”
CATO stressed the importance of the continuation of JobKeeper at higher rates for those industries that remain 85%-100% down due to the closure of borders. Furthermore, Jardine confirmed that CATO is actively supporting the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) in their efforts to secure government funding via grants and back to business loans for the industry to ensure ongoing collaboration as we look to inspire Australians to travel again post-COVID.
