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I have to say I was very sad to hear of the disastrous failure of what AFTA believed was a compelling case for the Federal Government to provide a Travel Agent Support Package of $125 million, which must have been very frustrating for those that spoke with and lobbied the Government.

This was compounded by Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s statement that the budget relied on assumptions that Australia’s international borders would remain closed into next year, with both surely suggesting that Australia’s international travel industry does not appear to have much influence in Canberra!

AFTA described their bid as essential if the industry was to get through to the other side of COVID-19 safely, but the budget failed to address or even comment about the drastic and in many cases terminal effect of COVID-19 on the international travel industry, with AFTA and other organisations having gone cap in hand to meet with various government representatives, it appears to no avail.

The failure by the Government to provide the support that AFTA was requesting and may I suggest a feeling that it was not even considered, poses the question whether anyone in Canberra was really listening, or even cares, or even understood with AFTA’s campaign encouraging the industry to seek the support of their local members also appearing to have “fallen on deaf ears”.

But, let’s for a moment ask ourselves what did AFTA mean by “the industry”?

Perhaps the sad outcome is the result of the ongoing fragmentation of the overall industry, with the package that AFTA was seeking clearly about outbound international tourism and is that the “industry” they describe?

If it is, many in Government see that as money flowing out of Australia and not as important as inbound, which of course is being badly affected by the international border closures, but is currently being strongly offset by very strong domestic travel and tourism.

So, I suppose it would not be surprising to conclude that the Government rejected AFTA’s bid, and even putting COVID-19 aside, is keeping the international borders closed to keep Australian tourism and travel money in Australia!

What do you think?

A report by John Alwyn-Jones