QANTAS Executive Manager of Global Sales and Distribution, Igor Kwiatkowski, yesterday warned travel agents to ensure they are “operationally prepared” for the 01 Jul change to base commission, which is being slashed from 5% to just 1%.

An industry update from QF reminded the airline’s “industry partners” that all bookings must be ticketed on or before 30 Jun 2022 to be eligible for the current commission of 5%, with the 1% rate applying to anything ticketed on or after 01 Jul, including for any additional collection on reissued tickets.

“This is the first time Qantas has adjusted commission on international fares in more than 15 years, and to assist you with this transition, we have provided the industry with more than 12 months to prepare for the commission change,” Kwiatkowski noted, with the move first flagged in May last year (TD 20 May 21).

An FAQ document on the qantasagencyconnect.com website notes that the change applies to all QF International published fares (excluding trans-Tasman) and Qantas Business Rewards International fares ticketed in Australia.

There’s no change to QF fares that are non-commissionable, including Australian domestic flights, trans-Tasman services, international fares with travel originating outside Australia and most private fares.

Qantas will honour the 5% commission earned on existing international bookings held in credit and reissued after 01 Jul, regardless of the number of re-issues.

The carrier will continue to audit for over-collection of BSP commission, and will raise ADMs to recall commission that is no longer eligible to be earned.

Kwiatkowski concluded his email saying “we continue to recognise the unique contribution our trade partners make, and the bespoke and important service you offer our mutual customers”.

MEANWHILE a number of Travel Daily readers have written to us in response to the Qantas email, including Ian Mollison from Helloworld Travel Balwyn North, who has penned an open letter to Kwiatkowski published on page 5.

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THE reopening of the trans-Tasman border saw a strong jump in Kiwi travel to Australia, with visitors from New Zealand comprising 18% of all arrivals during the month of Apr.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures showed a continuing improvement in both inbound and outbound travel, but the number of arriving trips to Australia during Apr was still 66.4% lower than pre-COVID figures in Apr 2019.

A total of 235,460 short-term trips to Australia were recorded – a year-on-year increase of about 900%, with just 22,000 visitors entering the country in Apr 2021.

42,500 Kiwis crossed the ditch, while 31,890 people from the UK arrived in Australia putting Britain in second spot, followed by 26,570 visitors from India.

In terms of outbound travel there were 282,632 resident departures during the month, – 69.2% lower than before the pandemic but again a huge uplift on the figure a year ago when just 17,000 Aussies left the country.

New Zealand was the most popular destination country with 34,380 trips, followed closely by the USA with 32,320 and then India with 32,010 Aussie visitors.

Fiji was in fourth spot with 26,760 Australian tourists, then the UK (21,750), Singapore (16,490), Thailand (13,920), Indonesia (11,240), the Philippines (7,530) and Vietnam (5,700).

MEANWHILE the ABS has reissued its Overseas Arrivals and Departures Data from Jul 2021 to Feb 2022 due to a “data quality issue which affected the state and territory of stay/residence data”.

Overall, during 2021 there were just 300,840 Australian departures, the lowest calendar year on record, with ‘visiting friends/relatives’ cited as the main reason for travel.

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SKILLSIQ has released a range of new training package products updating existing modules to help meet the current and future needs of industry.

The updated Tourism, Travel and Hospitality Training Package (Release 2.0) has now been published on the national register, including qualifications, skill sets and units of competency for the events, travel, tourism and hospitality sectors.

“While employers continue to navigate their operations through the changing economic environment, it has never been more critical than at present to ensure employers are supported with a skilled workforce that can support their evolving operations and recovery,” SkillsIQ said.

The revised travel training aims to address comments from industry that the “skills and knowledge-base of applicants and entrants to the sector are lacking in key areas, including general product and service content,” with the restructure addressing a need for stronger pathways for travel sector skills, including for “2IC” workers who are an integral part of business succession planning.

Modules on offer include skill sets in airfare construction, Australian and international travel destinations and travel products, business management, event coordination, product development and sales for international visitor markets, and travel sales & customer service.

For more information see the packages at training.gov.au.

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DOMESTIC travel spending on accommodation, food and shopping were all up on pre-pandemic levels for Mar 2022, the latest figures from Tourism Research Australia have showed.

Total spend for the month came in at $6.8 billion, an improvement of 6% on 2019, with the biggest jump coming from travellers to the Sunshine State, which increased by 25% on pre-COVID.

Further spending gains were also made by NSW, which saw a $195 million increase for Mar 2022, up 11% on 2019.

Australia’s regional areas were the major beneficiaries of the spending increase, faring a lot better than capital cities when it came to travellers forking out money from their wallets, accounting for a 22% rise for Mar.

Conversely, capital cities suffered a 10% fall in traveller spend for Mar 2022 when contrasted with Mar 2019.

Meanwhile Western Australia, the NT, Tasmania and the ACT were also disappointing when it came to spend, all failing to reach pre-pandemic levels.

While there were some green shoots for domestic spend, the same could not be said for the total number of overnight trips taken in Mar, which were still 17% shy of 2019 volumes, recording 8.3 million total trips.

However the Mar trip numbers did manage to gain 1.2 million trips on the previous month of Feb, which suffered a significant dip in trips compared to Jan.

The total number of nights spent on domestic trips for Mar was 27.7 million, still down almost 10% on the same period in 2019.

However interstate trips continued to improve, with 2.5 million interstate overnight trips taken, up 16% on the 2.2 million trips recorded in Mar 2021.

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THE vital role of the business events sector in New Zealand’s future success has been recognised at the Business Events Industry Aotearoa’s (BEIA) flagship exhibition, MEETINGS 2022, which kicked off yesterday.

Taking place at the Te Pae Christchurch Convention Centre, the two-day event was opened with a speech by Hon. Stuart Nash, New Zealand’s Minister for Tourism and Economic Development (pictured), as well as a traditional performance from the Ngai Tuahuriri tribe.

There are a record number of exhibitors from 18 regions across 211 stands, and over 400 buyers, including 110 from Australia, in attendance at the event.

BEIA Chief Executive, Lisa Hopkins, said, “The energy, resilience and optimism of our industry are truly on show…the powerful cultural performances at our opening, and speeches of encouragement have inspired all of our guests.”

In yet another success for the venue, Te Pae Christchurch has been selected by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) to host its Annual Scientific Congress in May 2024.

The venue has also been named as a finalist in the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC) Innovation Award for its Taste of Te Pae Activation Hub initiative.

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