THE WEEK THAT WAS – 23 July 2022
By Bruce Piper, Publisher
Welcome to a wet and windy Saturday morning in Sydney. A perfect day to curl up by the fire and catch up on all of the week’s travel industry news! Usually we don’t deal in too much salacious stuff, but the judgement handed down in Helloworld’s New Zealand employment case made for some particularly juicy reading – not least because it involved one of the company’s longest-standing and most-respected employees. Jacqueline Unsworth was undisputably New Zealand’s “cruise queen” and her angst at being made redundant, alongside many fellow HLO colleagues, in those chaotic first months of the pandemic is now a matter of public record.
The case clearly highlights the invidious position of many employers at the time, forced to make tough decisions about headcounts as demand dropped to zero. But the ruling also demonstrates that, in the words made famous by Bananarama (yes I’m naturally a fan of 80s girl bands), “it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it” – and also prompts the question of whether there could be similar causes of action against employers in Australia. One to watch, I think.
While I’m on the topic of industry redundancies, our story this week about the shock departure of long-time Holland America’s highly respected local sales chief Tony Archbold generated a strong response, with many of our readers paying tribute to Archbold as one of the sector’s true gentlemen. He’s currently taking a short break before considering his next steps, and nobody will be surprised to see him deservedly pop up in another senior role before too long.
Another item on the cruise radar is the situation at Island Escape Cruises, the NZ-based small ship operator which has this month cancelled three Kimberley voyages. The first one, on 03 July, was reportedly called off with just a few hours’ notice, seeing infuriated passengers flood social media with their disgust. The company’s CEO and one of the directors have resigned, with another director, Erik Helseth, stepping in and assuring me “we are in the final stages of solving the issues”. He has promised that all guests on the cancelled departures will receive refunds, with the company hoping to resume operations in time for its next departure on 10 August. We shall see.
That issue in turn leads my thinking to consumer confidence – and the territorial ambitions of AFTA CEO Dean Long, who this week announced the rebranding of the AFTA Travel Accreditation Scheme. Henceforth it will still be known as ATAS, but the first “A” now stands for “Australian” – as a first step in the evolution of the program which, he said, already encompasses much more than just travel agencies. Long noted that a key point of discussions about the industry since he became AFTA CEO has been “ways to improve ATAS and continue its important role in supporting consumer confidence in the travel distribution sector”. The move draws a clear line in the sand about the importance of accreditation, and if that helps boost public perceptions of the trustworthiness of travel agents, tour operators and wholesalers it can only be a good thing.
Finally, probably the biggest “big issue” highlighted this week is the impact of climate change on Australia’s natural appeal to tourists – highlighted by the response to the Government’s State of the Environment report. Ecotourism Australia CEO Elissa Keenan highlighted the findings, saying it’s “now or never” as she called for urgent action at all levels to address the environmental crisis.
And on that bleak note I’m going to sign off now and make the most of being able to take shelter from the inclement climate. I hope you can also make the most of having a roof over your head too, wherever you are in the world.
Bruce
