Coronavirus: $128m rescue deal arrives for travel agents with nowhere to go

Travel agents will be able to apply for one-off payments worth up to $100,000 under a new rescue package.

A beach in Coffs Harbour, NSW.

Travel agents will be able to apply for one-off payments worth up to $100,000 under a new rescue package, with the Morrison government conceding the industry was “operating in an exceptional set of circumstances” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trade, Tourism and Finance Minister Simon Birmingham will on Tuesday unveil a $128m scheme for about 3000 to 4000 travel agents with annual turnovers of between $50,000 and $20m. Eligible businesses at the lower end of the scale will receive minimum payments of $1500, while the largest travel agents will be able to claim a maximum payment of $100,000.

“This one-off payment recognises that travel agents are operating in an exceptional set of circumstances where most are having to refund last year’s ­income while continuing to work with no additional income,” Senator Birmingham said.

“Providing further assistance to travel agents in the current ­environment will help keep them afloat at a time when they are continuing to hold travel credits for consumers who have previously cancelled travel.”

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents estimates at least $10bn has been spent on holidays that were not able to be taken since March.

Government sources said about 60 per cent, or $6bn, had been repaid.

A “delighted” AFTA chief executive Darren Rudd said the package would help ensure the sector’s sustainability to assist Australians “with the new world of COVID-safe travel”.

The industry has already ­received $700m in JobKeeper subsidies and small business cash payments but government sources said it had been apparent for some time they needed an economic boost to stay afloat over the next six to nine months.

Senator Birmingham said he was hopeful there would be a ­travel bubble breakthrough soon with New Zealand, whose residents are able to come to Australia without quarantining but cannot return home under the same conditions.

There are also growing calls to expand the travel bubble to the Pacific, with farmers desperate to fill a labour shortage that has ­already impacted Queensland and NSW. “Ultimately, the news around vaccines is encouraging, but it’s going to take a while,” Senator Birmingham told Nine’s Today show on Monday.

“We’re not going to see vaccines distributed in a way across the world that gets people (from overseas) back by the first or second quarter of next year.

“I am hopeful that we can see some decent movement around international visitation as we move through next year and certainly by the end of it.”