A Christmas message from AFTA

The travel industry appears to have had a pretty good year in 2015 and it also appears that the outlook for 2016 is very bright also which is good news for all.

While we have had some ups and downs during the past year with terrorism and other dreadful incidents, the travel industry and in particular travel agents have once again shown that they are resilient and genuinely in touch with their client’s needs.

The statistics for outbound travel in 2015 are extremely impressive with more and more Australians taking overseas holidays than ever before and this trend appears to be set to increase for next year.

If anyone has been to one of Australia’s international airports in the past week or so, there is little room for anyone to move, which is of course a great sign. Couple that with the fact that Aussies have taken to cruising like ducks to water – the two best ways to get off the greatest island in the world. So, Australia is doing very well and with the majority of people using a travel agent to make the booking via either methods of transport.

Big congratulations to everyone in the Australian travel industry and I am sure those who will be taking a break over the holiday season it is well deserved.

On the political front, we have had another one of those years where we change Prime Ministers mid-term – never a good look for a country to do this both from a perception point of view and also from the electorates’ perspective.

But the brutal truth as reported by all the pollsters is that Australia has embraced Prime Minister Turnbull with his popularity rating holding very high.

Time will tell how that goes as policies and announcements start to make their way out in the new year and, of course, 2016 is a federal election year, so the fun and games of all of that will no doubt start early next year.

My guess is an election in September or October and there are bound to be some cracker issues on the policy agenda, some which will impact upon the travel industry.

Anything that either side announces that puts a dent in consumer confidence will impact the travel industry as people immediately start to rethink their plans.

So in the spirit of Christmas, let’s hope that both sides of politics can keep a positive message running for the countries future and give us all something to really think about in 2016.

Have a safe and merry Christmas and I look forward to being a part of the travel conversation next year.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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