The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) has issued a plea for urgent government assistance to help its members struggling with impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
It is calling for financial support such as wage subsidies and grants for businesses that face collapse as travel restrictions have devastated the market.
Pat Dawson, ITAA chief executive, said: “Due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the travel industry has been forced into lockdown for an indefinite period of time. We want to work with government to save lives and keep our families, our staff, our clients and our communities safe – but we also need to preserve our businesses so that we can resume operations when it is safe to do so.
“Our industry is in an exceptional position; we are facing a long-term recovery and we urgently require the support and assistance of government.
“If our staff are laid off, it will be extremely difficult to restart our businesses when the pandemic has subsided.”
He also warned of the impact on consumers if widespread failures were to happen.
“Consumer protection is our top priority,” he said.
“Currently there are thousands of clients who have booked to travel for the rest of 2020 whose bookings need to be rescheduled or refunded, plus the thousands who are still waiting for refunds from earlier in the year, which we are chasing and monitoring constantly.
“Travel agents provide an essential service to our consumers; if we are not there this responsibility will fall to the Commission for Aviation Regulation.”
The ITAA represents more than 170 members of the travel trade and its officials have had meetings throughout the pandemic with officials at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
Representatives of the ITAA also met transport minister Hildegarde Naughton TD in July to ask for business support and outline how the trade has had to work during the crisis to refund and rebook clients.
Most ITAA members are family-run businesses, together employing about 3,500 people across the country.
The association warns widespread collapses will lead to many job losses but those working in rural Ireland are at particular risk of long-term unemployment unless immediate action is taken.
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