With no product to sell, travel agents risk extinction

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With international travel cut-off for the foreseeable future and domestic travel hamstrung by travel restrictions and airline closures, travel agents are facing extinction according to Flight Centre founder and MD Graham Turner:

Flight Centre’s founder and managing director, Graham Turner, told ABC radio on Tuesday the sector needed federal and state governments to be clearer on whether they were pursuing elimination or suppression, and bring certainty for what travel will be allowed.

“We really need the domestic borders open initially and then the international borders to open,” he said. “The jobkeeper helps a bit but that’s not the real issue. Our main problem we’ve got is we don’t have any product to sell.”

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.