With pressure mounting on all governments from all sides in tourism and travel to throw the sector a lifeline, Ontario’s government is vowing that it will “shore up this vital industry” in the face of the pandemic and that travel agents and wholesalers “will see brighter days ahead.”

While Lisa Thompson offered few specifics and characterized the industry crisis as “evolving,” the province’s minister of government and consumer services assured delegates at the Travel Industry Council of Ontario’s (TICO) recent annual general meeting that the provincial government “recognizes the financial hardships the travel industry is experiencing” and added, “We know that the recovery period for Ontario’s travel industry will likely take some time and will need our support.”

Thompson said her government is actively considering the question: “How can we support Ontario’s travel industry?”

She added, the government will continue to work with TICO and to monitor the industry closely and that “you can trust that we will take the necessary actions to help travel agents and wholesalers as the situation evolves.”

The minister was quick to point to initiatives already undertaken in the name of providing immediate help: Amending the Travel Industry Act on March 30 to “reduce the burden” on travel agents and wholesalers, and to help travellers impacted by the pandemic; and on Sept. 1 announcing that funding would be provided to TICO for 2020-21 that will allow the regulatory body to implement waivers for its registrants and to maintain a focus on its consumer protection mandate.

The latter includes waiving annual fees (and refunding those that have already been paid) for Ontario registrants, noted TICO chair Jean Hébert, who called the pandemic “disastrous” for travel agents.

Thompson praised TICO for such candor and for “calling a spade a spade and letting us know exactly what your industry is facing.”

She invited all travel agents and wholesalers to continue working with her ministry and stated that “by working with TICO, we can best help travel agents and wholesalers, and consumers.

“We are committed to the recovery of the provincial travel industry and safe travel for everyone,” she added in her Zoom address. “We value you!”

Nevertheless, TICO CEO and registrar Richard Smart said that travel agency registrations in the province are of concern. At TICO’s year-end on March 31, registrations were down 11 percent, he said, and added that the impact of the pandemic “has caused many travel agencies and wholesalers to consider their futures.”

TICO, he assured, is working diligently and with great patience with troubled firms and counts over 165 firms that have benefitted.

And it will continue to do so, he says, in the future – a future that TICO estimates could take three years to see a full recovery for the industry, which will produce projected deficits that will require “further consideration of our funding model” (TICO has long advocated a consumer-pay model).

While Smart says it’s premature to speculate what measures may transpire in the future (and in TICO’s new fiscal year starting April 1, 2021), he says, “I want to assure you that our team understands the issues facing consumers and the travel industry. We understand the implications of the pandemic.”

Smart further revealed that the Ontario Compensation Fund, which covers end-supplier failure for consumers in the province, currently stands at $23.5 million.