An important petition is circulating on behalf of Canadian travel advisors asking the Minister of Transport and the federal government to protect commissions where airlines are being forced to refund customers in order to receive access to government aid and loans.

This petition needs as many signatures as possible and The Travel Agent Next Door is getting behind the effort to increase awareness of the petition and asking agents to send to their clients for signatures. The deadline for signatures is Jan. 29, 2021.

“This is a good way for advisors to reach out to clients and make them aware of how travel advisors are compensated and at the same time, draw attention to this situation,” said Flemming Friisdahl, Founder, TTAND.

The petition says, in part, that:

- “Refunds to consumers are estimated by the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies to be $8 billion, which will translate to $200 Million in commission recalls.

-“The travel advisor community has been working on behalf of their clients since mid March, but with zero revenue. Many Travel advisors will personally be required to repay in excess of $10,000 in commissions for trips cancelled due to COVID19, and will find this impossible, due to zero income since March, 2020, forcing many Travel agencies and Independent travel advisors into bankruptcy.

- “We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Minister of Transport to ensure that bailout subsidies and loans to airlines will be conditional upon the protection of Travel advisor commissions paid for services rendered to airlines and their subsidiary tour companies.”

The suggested text for the covering email to be sent from travel advisors to their clients reads:

“I am sending you this email because I could really use your support. Covid19 has hurt the travel industry significantly and as a travel professional I am working with all travel professionals in Canada to make sure the government is aware of how this pandemic has affected our industry. If I could ask that you please sign this petition and ask anyone else in your house to also sign it, it really would be appreciated. When you read the petition, it will give you a very good understanding of the struggles the travel industry is going through. We have a very limited time to sign this petition so if you could do it now, it would be appreciated.”

To sign the petition, please click here.