A MUCH BETTER PLACE: ACTA’s focus shifts from survival to recovery

Wendy Paradis

With travel restrictions mostly rescinded and bookings booming – the two are not unrelated – Canadian travel agents are in a much better place than even a few weeks ago, says ACTA. But agents are not out of the woods, says association Wendy Paradis, and last week’s federal budget didn’t necessarily help.

“Travel businesses are busy, especially leisure travel,” Paradis said during an ACTA video town hall event yesterday (Monday). “However, as we always said to government, even with this positive news, our sector will be the last to recover based on how and when our compensation is paid” – a circumstance particularly unhelpful to an industry drowning in debt.

Paradis noted that the federal document, released on April 7 and which ACTA believes is “almost certain to pass,” devoted a great deal of spending to other areas, but not much to the travel sector at a critical time when most government aid programs are ending. The budget, she says, marked a shift in government priorities from pandemic financial support to policies supporting economic growth and affordability.

As such, Paradis says ACTA’s focus will shift from survival to recovery, including specifically advocating all levels of government to remove any remaining barriers to travel, reducing regulatory burdens, tackling the labour crisis, and “fostering an environment where travel agencies and independent travel agents can thrive.”

Equally important will be advocating that previous barriers, such as quarantines and pre-travel testing, are not reinstated in the future in the face of future waves of the coronavirus pandemic.

Paradis points out that a paucity of funding in the budget for future testing suggests that the government is not anticipating reinstating testing any time soon (at least on home soil).

But while stating that it is “deeply disappointed” overall in the budget’s treatment (or lack thereof) of the travel sector, ACTA notes some general measures that will prove helpful to travel agents.

Here is the association’s assessment of where the industry stands:

• Temporary financial support programs are being phased out, including wage and rent subsidies ending on May 7 as scheduled

• No financial support for independent agents is forthcoming

• $23 billion has been given by the federal government to support travel and tourism business since the beginning of the pandemic, but the 2022 budget offers only $20 million for Indigenous tourism and $55 million for Trans Canada Trail (signalling domestic opportunities for travel agents)

• ACTA believes federal support for travel agents/agencies has ended “far too early” due to the delayed nature of revenue payments

• The travel sector is “besieged by debt” and only now starting to see recovery

• National dental program will result in significant savings for travel agents/agencies paying out of pocket for service

• Reduced tax rate (9% on first $500,000) for small businesses will create tax savings for many mid-sized travel agencies

• Commitment to lowering credit card processing and borrowing fees for small businesses may also help.

ACTA’s Avery Campbell noted the association’s intense advocacy efforts, in partnership with other tourism organizations throughout the pandemic and leading up to the budget, stating, “Everyone gave it their best effort; and while we didn’t achieve our goals, everything that could be done, was.”

Campbell says the budget establishes a framework for post-pandemic tourism growth strategy, addressing labour shortages and instability, destination development, and changing geopolitical and public health contexts and that ACTA will be “working to ensure that key lessons from the past two years are taken to heart for the future and to ensure that our industries endure future crisis, like a new variant of concern.”

And while Avery says, “Ultimately the government has budgeted very little for tourism and growth strategies,” he acknowledges that through general budget initiatives (like the dental program), “there will be bottom line savings for all travel businesses.”