COVID-19 National: Business – COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program

This program aims to assist travel agents and tour arrangement service providers who have been disproportionately impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its objective is to assist travel agents, and tour arrangement service providers, that qualify for the Jobkeeper scheme, by providing immediate, short term financial support, including for the purpose of ensuring that they can continue to trade and meet their legal obligations to process refunds and credits to Australian consumers.

The intended outcomes of the program are to assist:
- Australian consumers to receive refunds and credits for travel they were unable to undertake due to the impacts of COVID-19.
- Travel agents and tour arrangement service providers to continue to trade or to recommence trade, where possible.

Payments will be scaled, with a minimum payment of $1,500 for a business with a turnover of $50,000 up to a maximum payment of $100,000 for a business with a turnover of $20 million.

The grant amount goes up by $2,500 for each $100,000 increase in annual turnover or part thereof.

A total funding pool of $128 million is available.

Eligible applicants include businesses that must:
- Be a travel agent or tour arrangement service provider and have been operating as a travel agent or tour arrangement service provider prior to the announcement of the closure of international borders by the Prime Minister of Australia on 19 March 2020.
- Have lodged a 2018-19 income tax return.
- Have had an annual turnover starting from $50,000 up to a maximum of $20 million for the 2019 calendar year.
- Have received a payment for a JobKeeper fortnight ending in October 2020 under the Coronavirus Economic Response Package (Payments and Benefits) Rules 2020 - that is JobKeeper fortnight 14 (28 September 2020 to 11 October 2020) and JobKeeper fortnight 15 (12 October 2020 to 25 October 2020).
- Have a registered and active Australian Business Number (ABN).
- For businesses with a turnover of more than $75,000:
a) Be registered for the purposes of GST.
b) Have lodged all required BAS for the 2019 calendar year.
- Have an account with an Australian financial institution that is located within Australian territorial boundaries.
- Provide evidence supporting you are a travel agent or tour arrangement service provider by holding active incorporation or registration in Australia as at 30 November 2020 with at least one of the following entities:
a) Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA)
b) Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC)
c) Council of Australian Tour Operators (CATO)
d) Any other applicable tourism peak industry body (as determined by Austrade)
- If membership with one of the above entities is not held, provision of the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC) code 7220 ‘Travel Agency and Tour Arrangement Services’ as submitted in your 2018-19 income tax return you lodged with the ATO.