Australian travel agents will receive an additional $130 million from a second round of the Morrison Government's COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program.
Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan said the funding boost is on top of an initial $128 million to support our travel agents.
"The extension of the program will provide an additional $130 million to support eligible travel agents for the next three months who continue to provide refunds and hold credits for Australians who are unable to travel due to COVID-19," Mr Tehan said.
"This assistance is on top of the $128 million already committed in round one of the program and equates to over $250 million in support for the sector. So far, the Government has paid $90.5 million of this funding to support 2,638 travel agents.
"Austrade will meet with the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, Australian Tourism Export Council, Council of Australian Tour Operators and Australian Tourism Industry Council today to consult on the guidelines for the program extension.
"The extra assistance is part of our Government's $1.2 billion tourism and aviation package to support our 660,000 tourism industry workers when JobKeeper ends on 28 March.
"The funding is in addition to around $700 million in support already provided to the sector through measures like JobKeeper, PAYG cashflow boosts, and loss carry back provisions.
"I encourage every Australian to play their role by contacting their local travel agent, booking one of our 800,000 half-price airfares and taking a holiday in Australia."
The COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program provides eligible travel agents and tour arranging service operators with a one-off payment up to $100,000. Key changes under round two of the program include:
- Simplifying the assessment and payment process for businesses eligible for a second payment under the program extension
- Increasing the minimum grant amount from $1,500 to $5,000, and
- Reducing the number of turnover tiers used to calculate payments from 41 to seven.
