Travel industry coronavirus: Reho Travel crippled by pandemic
The heart wrenching truth about what lockdown and border closures have done to the travel industry has been laid bare by one of Melbourne’s most popular travel agents.
Melbourne City
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A Melbourne travel agent whose St Kilda Rd business has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic has backed an industry call for a $125 million government support package.
Reho Travel chief executive Karsten Home said the industry was only hanging on a thread and support was needed now to keep it afloat.
“(Reho Travel) focus on corporate, study and leisure travel and since March we are 95 per cent down,” he said.
“We had 100 study tours booked for the next year and overnight they were gone and it wiped out a whole department.
“International study tours may be two years away but we are working on a program to pivot to New Zealand if universities agree.
“A support package would ensure the survival of our business. We are all hanging on by a thread and want to stay to see travel bounce back.”
The Australian Federation of Travel Agents is calling on the government to bankroll a $125 million support package to help the country’s 4000 travel agencies.
Australia’s travel industry employs 40,000 people and contributes $28 billion each year to the economy, and 70 per cent of international travel is booked through agents, according to information provided by AFTA.
The majority of travel agencies are small, family owned businesses, and AFTA estimates up to a quarter will close as a result of the economic fallout from the virus.
The industry hasn’t received any support outside of the standard coronavirus support packages offered to all businesses such as JobKeeper and Jobseeker.
In contrast, other industries have received hundreds of millions of dollars in monetary relief, including builders through the home builder scheme ($688 million), Arts and entertainment ($250 million), film and television ($400 million), and aviation ($1.1 billion).
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Contact Grace at grace.mckinnon@news.com.au