Manwaring is also urging the government to speed up the rollout of the government’s COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program.
“We are very grateful for the federal government’s COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program, which has seen $258 million in support for Australian travel and tourism businesses, including travel agents,” he said.
“But we need the support from rounds one and two of the grants program to flow more quickly to those eligible agents and, given the ongoing pause in outbound travel, we need this support extended and supplemented urgently across the entire travel sector.
“We were the first hit and will be the last to recover with that only possible after international travel resumes.”
13 Jul 2021
The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) has highlighted the increasingly urgent need for widespread support for the travel sector due to the immediate and flow-on impacts of the Greater Sydney lockdown.
As a result of the COVID restrictions in Greater Sydney and wider NSW, state and territory borders, as well as the trans-Tasman Safe Travel Zone, are rapidly closing, with significant ramifications for agents and businesses, according to AFTA.
An estimated 15,000 jobs have already been lost in Australia’s travel sector, with recovery only possible with the resumption of international travel for most.
AFTA is continuing to work closely with Austrade and the federal government to accelerate and support the distribution of the $258 million in support through the COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program to eligible small- and medium-sized agencies.
25 May 2021
Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has provided an update on just how much moolah has been paid out to travel agents as part of the federal government’s COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program.
The federal government has committed $258 million in direct support to agents through the program and, according to the latest data, $118.1 million has been paid so far.
A total of $98.6 million in grant funding has been paid under round one, with 2,964 agents having received payments and another 172 claims still being processed, according to a media release issued by Minister Tehan on Monday.
Under round two, $19.5 million in grant funding has been paid to 945 agents.