On Wednesday 9 September, the General Consultation of the standing committee of Economic Affairs and Climate will take place in The Hague. The AO is entirely devoted to 'tourism'. Travel umbrella organization ANVR sent a letter to the members of the AO last week and once again drew attention to the dramatic situation in the travel sector.
Frank Oostdam, chairman of ANVR: 'Of course we are happy with the 3e support package, but that alone will not make it. Obviously, we too cannot avoid major reorganisations and downsizing of companies, but we also know that consumers - as soon as they can again - would love to go on holiday. There is certainly a perspective, but we must first get through this difficult period. ' Travel industry organization ANVR supports the letter sent by Gastvrij Nederland, but asks the committee to draw attention to three travel industry-specific topics.
De ANVR calls for the cabinet to work at European level to arrive at unambiguous travel advice. At the moment, there is a lack of coordination at European level in phasing out or introducing travel restrictions.
Oostdam: 'How can Dutch people be evacuated from areas, such as Croatia, where other EU citizens are being taken at the same time? Germans can also go to Turkish coasts, while this is impossible for Dutch tour operators. For the travel sector this is dramatic, unworkable and impossible to explain '. Oostdam continues: 'And just like our English and German colleagues, we also argue for a more differentiated approach when it comes to destinations outside the EU. Assess these on an individual basis'.
Secondly, the travel sector is asking the State Secretary to review the 'weaving error', as the ANVR calls it, in the TVL rules. Because of their different VAT declaration, travel agents are now eligible for much less help than other companies are entitled to. Travel agents benefit from a similar arrangement for them. In addition, the trade association asks that the growing number of self-employed travel agents, the self-employed in the travel sector, also give the support they deserve.
The third question, according to ANVR, is support for the development of a so-called 'Voucher bank'. As is known, the government has given a loan to SGR to guarantee the issuance of vouchers. With many destinations still unavailable to travel, the vouchers cannot be spent and the industry is at risk of having to pay back the vouchers. This is disastrous for the industry.
SGR and ANVR have therefore developed a plan whereby the affiliated travel companies can borrow money through a voucher bank. Customers can then exchange their travel voucher for cash, converting the voucher into a loan from the travel company with the government. With this government loan and its repayment over a number of years, a large part of the sector can be saved.
Travel umbrella organization ANVR wants to draw the attention of the AO members with these three points, so that both the travel sector and the traveler now have confidence in traveling again.
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