[ad_1]
The scale of the crisis that has gripped the travel industry during the pandemic is worsening. And with little prospect of a rebound in overseas leisure travel until next year, fears mount that many companies in the industry will not survive.
High-level industry figures warn that the industry is on the brink of collapse, with thousands of jobs at stake.
Ireland’s more than 300 travel agents and tour operators have seen their sources of income dry up since the beginning of March. Since the government has yet to offer any roadmap for recovery, they have also had to return much of their income from the previous months, as customers requested refunds on reservations affected by Covid-19.
On Wednesday, a representative group will deliver a petition with more than 5,000 signatures outside Leinster House, seeking government support for the sector.
Calls for the wage subsidy to return to pre-September levels and for the subsidies to be available to travel agencies until they can resume operations.
The industry is also asking the government to lift travel restrictions and update the so-called Green List of countries that are considered safe to travel to. The list, which contains 10 names, has not been updated in more than a month despite the government pledging to review it every 15 days. It does not include many countries where Covid-19 transmission is significantly lower than Ireland.
Figures from the European Center for Disease Prevention are used to decide which countries should be on the list and when it was first drawn up, the Republic’s infection rate was roughly five per 100,000. This figure is now more than 30 cases per 100,000.
A government spokesman declined to comment on when changes to the list or rules associated with traveling abroad could be announced, other than saying that any potential changes were “pending a review of the international situation.”
The spokesperson did not elaborate on what this review would examine and when it could be concluded. However, government sources have indicated that it is unlikely to be changed until the new long-term plan to live alongside Covid-19 is published on September 14.
Linda Jones, who runs the Travel Boutique in Bray, is the author of the petition. “We lost all of our existing bookings and we are not going to make any new bookings for 2020. No other business has had to return everything it previously earned, other than having had no sales this year,” he said.
“We have been in this crisis for six months and we are absolutely devastated by the pandemic. There is no reset date for our industry and until the non-essential travel ban is lifted and the rosters and quarantine are removed, we simply cannot operate. The travel restrictions have killed our business. “
Mary McKenna has run Tour America for more than 25 years and as of March ran a profitable business, employing more than 50 people.
“We are different from pubs and other industries in that we could not stop working even at the height of the crisis and we were processing refunds and doing everything possible to please our customers,” he said.
His company has processed about 70 percent of the refunds owed and is going after airlines and cruise companies to speed up the return of more money. He said that across the industry, around € 120 million had yet to be reimbursed to customers.
“We have been doing all the right things and 98 percent of our customers are happy. The government should recognize that companies like mine are good for the economy and will survive, but we need more support ”.
‘Serious problem’
Ms McKenna said she did not think travel would start to return to normal for at least six months. “I think we are seeing Easter and if things don’t start to turn around by then, I think the hotel and tourism sector, from airlines to hotels, will be in serious trouble.”
John Galligan runs “a micro-business” in Sandyford and, he said, “has carved out a very successful niche for us” in leisure travel and luxury expeditions. “Until March, things were going very well,” he said.
Galligan said his staff worked during the shutdown “monitoring which flights were still operating, keeping customers informed and seeking reimbursements from suppliers” despite “receiving a big drop in salary as they had to make do with the scheme of wage subsidy “.
He said that when he heard that the wage subsidy scheme was extended until April, he was enormously relieved. “I felt that we could actually overcome this crisis. However, when I read what they had actually done, my heart sank to the ground. ”
He said the government had “cut” support to 203 euros a week and layoffs were inevitable.
He expressed his frustration as many of his clients with 2020 bookings “have rescheduled to travel with us in 2021, so we have very good advance sales. [but] Due to the withdrawal of support, I also had to fire one of my employees this week. It was heartbreaking. “
Galligan said his industry had “bombarded ministers with facts about the impending and inevitable loss of up to 3,500 jobs in the Irish travel business. We have warned them about the almost complete disappearance of Irish travel agencies, but they have ignored us at all times. “
[ad_2]