TORONTO — ACTA will be sharing its analysis of the federal budget at a virtual Town Hall, taking place today, April 11.

Open to travel agencies, travel agents and independent travel agents, the town hall will include the most up-to-date information on Canadian government travel restrictions and measures, plus ACTA’s advocacy plan to ensure that the industry is best prepared for potential and future COVID-19 variants of concern.

The English-language webinar starts at 1 p.m. ET today (register here). There’s also a French-language webinar on April 13 (register here).

In her statement immediately after the budget was unveiled April 7, ACTA President Wendy Paradis expressed ACTA’s frustration with the lack of extended financial aid for the still-struggling retail travel sector.

The Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program and its rent and wage subsidies began ramping down in mid-March, and is scheduled to end May 7. And the budget made no mention in the budget of any action on Independent Travel Agent Relief Program (ITARP) proposal, submitted by ACTA to the government in January 2022 with the endorsement of all major ACTA host agency presidents as well as ACITA and Canadian Travel Agents for Change.

“ACTA is disappointed that the 2022 federal budget failed to address the ongoing need for support for travel agencies and independent travel agents, who are still far from recovery,” said Paradis.

“All temporary financial support programs are being phased out, despite the impact of the omicron variant and the delayed revenue model of our sector,” she added.

At today’s webinar ACTA will also be joined by senior leaders at WestJet who will provide attendees with an update on the airline.  ACTA and WestJet will be available to answer questions following the presentations.