Industry reform to save agents millions, says minister

Industry reform to save agents millions, says minister
By admin


The looming repeal of the Travel Agents Act will deliver the industry millions of dollars in savings while eliminating outdated red tape, according to minister for fair trading Matthew Mason-Cox.

Mason-Cox described the scheme, which will be repealed nationally by June 30, as a “costly administrative burden” on the industry, with the advent of the internet and e-commerce rendering its licensing regime and associated Travel Compensation Fund (TCF) largely irrelevant.

“The Travel Agents Act regulated the industry in the late 1980s when there was virtually no alternative but to pay for travel using a travel agent,” he said.

“Since payments are now made to travel providers and through credit cards, the Travel Compensation Fund and licensing have become redundant with protections under the Australian Consumer Law being far more relevant to consumer travel purchases now and into the future.”

The reforms are particularly important for New South Wales because an estimated 40% of travel agents and 47% of industry revenue is generated within the state.

“The financial burden on Australian businesses has been between $19 million and $25 million, which is mainly attributable to the Travel Compensation requirements and that means our reforms will deliver real savings to business,” Mason-Cox said.

Meanwhile, the final round of workshops on the replacement ATAS accreditation scheme will be launched by the Australian Federation of Travel Agents in Brisbane tonight.

Latest News

  • Business Travel

Apparent launches ‘All heart, no hassle’ campaign for Flight Centre’s Corporate Traveller

Apparent’s first integrated brand campaign goes live this week for Corporate Traveller, the flagship SME business-to-business brand of Flight Centre Travel Group. The campaign features a number of scenarios with playful headlines such as ‘We’re friends with (travel booking) benefits’ and ‘Corporate by name, not by nature’ which gives the campaign a cheekiness and levity […]

  • Tourism

Indaba 2024: Losing out on memory, South Africa Tourism hands its fate to children

Thembisile Sehloho was appointed as the new chief marketing officer (CMO) South Africa Tourism in early April, so she’s literally had her feet under the desk for just longer than a month. At Africa’s Travel Indaba, David Hovenden sat down with for her only Australian interview and discussed the work being done on South Africa […]

  • Cruise

ACA & CLIA join forces ahead of Australian Tourism Exchange

Australian Cruise Association (ACA) and Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) will return to Australian Tourism Exchange (ATE) this month to promote the diverse range of cruising products in Australia to the international travel market. ATE is a pivotal opportunity to position Australia’s thriving cruise industry on the global stage and will this year be held […]

  • Destinations

South Africa eyes affordable tourism to grow market

Australian tourists feeling the pinch from the cost-of-living crisis, might find an unlikely ally in South African Tourism in the future according to a panel at Africa’s Travel Indaba (ATI). With six out of ten young Africans failing to explore their own continent, despite constituting the largest demographic within the 1.3 billion-strong African population, the […]

  • Luxury

COMO launches new family-sized farmhouse in the heart of Tuscany

COMO Hotels and Resorts has launched its new farmhouse apartments in the heart of Tuscany, just in time for Australians to escape our wet winter. And it’s also an ideal time for Aussies of Italian ancestry to explore their home country as 2024 has been declared the year of Roots and Heritage Tourism by the […]

  • Destinations
  • News

New Caledonia in lockdown and airport closed after violent riots rock Noumea

New Caledonia officials have announced a 6pm-6am curfew, a liquor ban and have closed the country’s main airport after overnight riots in which vehicles were torched and roads blocked in the wake of proposed constitutional reforms. Australian Government website Smartraveller has issued an alert informing visitors to exercise a high degree of caution in metropolitan […]