[ad_1]
ALDEN WILLIAMS / STUFF / Stuff
Flight Center has closed several of its outlets and there were concerns that the widespread closure of travel agencies would reduce the chances of consumers recovering money tied up abroad by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travel agents will receive financial assistance from the government to reimburse an estimated $ 690 million worth of canceled foreign trips.
Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi announced a consumer travel reimbursement plan of up to $ 47.6 million to ensure travel agencies can process refunds or credits for customers affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travel agents had asked for help saying that border closures had devastated them financially and warned that customers would be left in the lurch trying to recoup money from overseas travel providers if agencies closed.
Faafoi said the travel industry and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment estimated that around $ 690 million of New Zealanders’ money was blocked due to canceled trips, and the plan would help recover the money for Kiwi customers and elsewhere. the local economy as soon as possible.
READ MORE:
* New Plymouth travel agents share concerns about the state of the industry
* Client owed STA $ 12k: ‘Beyond devastated’
* ‘Holding our money hostage’ – Air New Zealand customer who was denied refund on flights worth $ 12k asks for a law change
Mark Baker / AP
Covid-19 has largely stopped overseas travel for New Zealanders and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said that processing refunds would put that money back into the local economy.
Travel agencies will receive 7.5% of the value of cash refunds and 5% of the value of guaranteed credits for consumers.
“This will mean, for example, that if an agent recovers $ 10,000 in cash back for a canceled trip, the customer will get that money back and the agent will receive $ 750,” Faafoi said.
“If it is a credit for the canceled trip of $ 10,000, the client receives the credit and the agent receives $ 500”.
Many of the outstanding reserves were difficult to undo, and industry expertise was crucial in helping consumers recover money tied up in stranded reserves, he said.
“I know that travel agents and wholesalers have been working hard to recover refunds and credits owed to New Zealand consumers, but they are under heavy financial pressure, with many facing the prospect of insolvency.”
Debbie Jamieson / Stuff
Visitors arrive in Queenstown on the first direct flight from Auckland since the city moved to Covid level 2.5. Customers who can get reimbursements for overseas travel can choose to spend them on domestic travel.
“That [the fund] it will also give greater confidence to the travel industry by limiting further insolvencies. “
Four major travel agencies – Flight Center, House of Travel, First Travel Group, and Helloworld – had lobbied the minister for funding and said in a written statement that they were grateful their pleas were heard.
“There is still a long way to go, but we are pleased to receive the much-needed support in what has been an incredibly difficult time for travel agencies in New Zealand.”
Supplied
The Coronet Peak ski area was busy the last school holidays and NZ Ski CEO Paul Anderson hopes that families receiving refunds for canceled trips abroad will choose to invest that money in a ski trip the next school vacation. .
Faafoi said the plan will be established as soon as possible, and details like eligibility will be worked out in the coming weeks.
Domestic tour operators hope that some of those refunds abroad will end up in their pockets.
NZ Ski CEO Paul Anderson said he had recently spoken to five families who had received refunds for planned September / October school vacation trips to Bali, Vietnam and the Gold Coast, but were now considering spending that time in places like Queenstown and Wanaka. .
“We were pleasantly surprised by how many kiwis were traveling to New Zealand and spending more as overseas visitors … it’s a whole new market that has opened up.”
