ACTA Survey Ramps Up Advocacy For Loan Relief
ACTA is launching a critical survey for travel agencies, host agencies and independent travel agents to share their current debt level and confidence in their capacity to repay government loans by Dec. 31, 2023.
The survey, being launched today, will focus on the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF), and Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program (HASCAP).
Noting that travel and tourism businesses accessed these federal loan programs en masse during the pandemic, however, ACTA points out that tight repayment terms are now proving to impede travel business recovery across Canada.
The survey is open to all travel agencies, host agencies, and independent travel agents.
Wendy Paradis, ACTA President, said: “We are also seeking information on preferred solutions for repayment, including increased loan forgiveness, extended repayment deadlines, and modification of loan terms.”
HASCAP loan repayment dates vary depending on the terms individual travel businesses would have established with their lending institution. The loans were made available to businesses during the pandemic by Canadian lending institutions and are 100% guaranteed by the Government of Canada.
Said Paradis: “Our members and the travel industry as a whole continue to experience a very slow pace of financial recovery due to pandemic debt incurred. Escalating operational costs and unpredictable inflation are also a significant additional burden and making it impossible to repay federal loans by the current deadline.”
And she continued: “We believe that with the first two financial quarters of 2023 now behind them, travel agencies, host agencies, and Independent Travel Advisors have timely data and perspective to share with respect to their debt levels, confidence in their ability to repay the federal loans, and preferred public policy solutions to assist their recovery.”
ACTA will aggregate the responses; no individual travel businesses will be referenced.
To take the survey, CLICK HERE.
The deadline to complete survey is Fri., July 28 by 3pm EST / (Noon PST)
