The federal government tables its next budget on Thursday 07APR, and the travel industry will be watching closely.
One of the last remaining hurdles in the way of travel recovery - Ottawa’s pre-entry COVID test requirement - was dropped only on 01APR, less than a week before the new budget. While bookings are reportedly up, the industry still has a long way to climb back.
Current, existing wage and rent subsidies for hardest-hit businesses, including those in travel, have already begun winding down. As the government outlined in its last budget in SEP 2021, those support programs declined by half on 13MAR and are due to end entirely on 07MAY.
Independent advisors (ITA’s) have been without direct financial support since the end of the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) in OCT-- despite being among the hardest-hit entrepreneurs on travel’s long road to recovery.
ACTA has been lobbying intensively on behalf of agencies and ITA’s since the writing on the wall from the last federal budget.
ACTA president Wendy Paradis told Open Jaw, that, in addition to the organization’s lobbying efforts, “We have tremendous grass roots activity from travel agencies and ITAs leading up to the budget – personal emails to MPs, one on one meetings across the country and videos we are posting on social media and sending to key government officials.
“It has been all hands on deck.”
ACTA has asked Ottawa for the extension of current programs - at their highest, not a reduced level - through JUL.
Paradis notes that Ottawa in fact has the power to authorize the extension of existing wage and rent subsidies through JUL even without passing new laws.
In addition, she told Open Jaw, “The sector specific Tourism and Hospitality Recovery (THRP) financial support program length was established prior to the emergence of the Omicron variant.
“Omicron and the accompanying government travel restrictions had a devastating impact on the travel industry from December through to the end of February.”
So ACTA believes this program, too, should be extended through a longer period of recovery.
Furthermore, late last year, the organization developed a blueprint for ITA support and submitted the proposed - Independent Travel Agent Relief Program (ITARP) - to the government, following it up with “detailed and high level engagement” with officials and lawmakers.
That makes at least three ways in which next week’s federal budget could potentially provide recovery support for travel retailers.
But ACTA isn’t striking an optimistic note, telling Open Jaw, “Knowing that the government has taken significant steps to ease travel restrictions/barriers, we believe they also want to move away from COVID financial support/subsidy programs.”
The organization isn’t pulling back, however.
“Based on how our industry is paid and the set back of Omicron-- ACTA is advocating for support through to July,” Paradis told Open Jaw.
“ And we ask the travel agencies and ITAs keep up the pressure.”
