Budget assumptions highlight need for ongoing support
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AFTA hosted a post-budget summit at KPMG with a range of key business peak bodies and Embassy representatives
The Australian Federation of Travel Agents says the Government’s confirmation in the Federal
Budget that international travel is likely to “remain low through to mid-2022” highlights the critical need for ongoing support for travel agents and businesses.
AFTA warns that without ongoing support until international travel resumes, travel agents and businesses will be forced to shut, erasing a critical part of the infrastructure that supports corporate and leisure travel and Australians visiting family and relatives overseas. This support is even more vital in a COVID environment.
12 May 2021
Qantas Group has pushed back its planned restart of international flights beyond the trans-Tasman bubble from the end of October 2021 to late December.
The decision comes after last night’s Federal Budget announcement revealed Australia’s vaccine rollout is expected to be completed at the end of 2021, meaning the international border isn’t expected to reopen until mid-2022.
Qantas Group said it remains optimistic that additional bubbles will open once Australia’s vaccine rollout is complete “to countries who, by then, are in a similar position, but it’s difficult to predict which ones at this stage”.
“This planning assumption will allow the Qantas Group – and Australia – to be ready to take advantage of pockets of tourism and trade opportunity as they emerge in a post-COVID world,” the company said in a statement.
11 May 2021
Travel agents have been warned not to expect much from this year’s Federal Budget, but that hasn’t stopped the sector’s peak body from continuing to push for continued support.
The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) has eight of its directors in Canberra for this week’s Federal Budget sittings, with Treasurer Josh Frydenburg to share the government’s big spending plans tonight.
Chair Tom Manwaring, vice chairs Graham “Skroo” Turner and Christian Hunter, David Smith, Laura Ruffles, David Greenland, David Padman and Jo Sully are all volunteering their time to spend several days in the nation’s capital lobbying and briefing stakeholders across the political spectrum and participating in all key events.