ACTA tackles untangling tariffs at town hall, talks support and more

ACTA President, Wendy Paradis and ACTA’s Director of Advocacy and Industry Relations, Avery Campbell welcomed travel advisors to a virtual town hall yesterday (March 11) to provide an update on Canada-US relations and how the association is supporting travel advisors and agencies across Canada.

In her opening remarks, Paradis said what many in the audience at the virtual event were thinking: “I can’t believe I’m saying this word again, but Canada is once again facing an unprecedented time and this time, it really is at this point directed at our economy.”

She pointed out that “the information around tariffs and the impact of the tariffs is not only changing by the day, it is changing by the minute.”

But Paradis made it clear that Campbell and the ACTA team “are intensely monitoring the situation and how it impacts all of us in the travel industry and you, as travel agencies and travel advisors and independent travel advisors.”

After defining what a tariff is, ACTA’s Avery Campbell then walked those attending the town hall through the U.S. tariffs — what they were being imposed on; when they were being imposed; the various pauses of those tariffs; and the further threat of reciprocal tariffs.

ACTA’s Director of Advocacy and Industry Relations also updated those attending on Canada’s response from both the federal government and from provincial and territorial governments, pointing out that the Canadian government has made it clear that it won’t remove its counter tariff measures until all US tariffs have been removed.

However, Campbell also made it clear that the US tariffs will have an impact as Canada exports 75.9 per cent of all its goods to the United States.

Those impacts include:

• Up to 1 million job loses – approximately 4% of the workforce – primarily in manufacturing industries
• A 3% loss to Gross Domestic Product, with no bounce back which was what happened following COVID
• Economists are estimating between 2% to 8% short-term GDP shock

Said Paradis: “The big message is if there are sustained tariffs, the impact will be significant on the Canadian economy.”

As for the impact on travel, Campbell noted that the latest Statistics Canada figures for February show that Canadian travel to the US by all modes of travel was down by 14.5%, with multiple surveys showing that Canadians are increasingly avoiding travel to the US.

In fact, a GPS Market survey for March showed it as high as 80%.

Campbell also advised that ACTA’s members are telling the association that their clients are avoiding travel to the US, but are booking other destinations.

He did note, though, that members focused on family leisure travel to the US are feeling the impact.

Looking at the potential longer term impacts, Campbell pointed to reduced travel demand as a result of increased US boycotts. While job losses and reduced economic activity will impact discretionary spending with the result being that ‘all’ travel will reduce over time.

Campbell also offered an overview of actions being taken by various levels of government in Canada and outlined some of actions that ACTA was taking to support its members, including:

• Meeting weekly with Finance Canada and Global Affairs Canada
• Global collaboration with ASTA, WTAAA, USTA
• Engagement with key industry stakeholders, including leveraging relationships built through pandemic (ex. Tourism Roundtable)
• Member engagement and promotion

As well, ACTA is advocating for:

• Supports as needed by various member groups
• Reduced red tape
• Ensuring member representation in federal and provincial consultations

The association is also asking a number of things from suppliers which include:

• Pay commission at the time of final payment
• Pay commission on penalty fees and non-refundable amounts
• Protect commission when travel is cancelled due to issues under the supplier’s control
• Do not employ non-commissionable fees
• Practice proactive, clear, and consistent communication
• Safeguard the advisor-client relationship and ensure commissions on on-site sales
• Invest in high-quality self-service tools

ACTA is also looking for data from its members to help the association understand how they’re being impacted by the situation, particularly information on what forward US sales are looking like and whether those customers are rebooking or simply cancelling their travel plans.

Campbell said that information can be sent to him at [email protected] and noted as well that ACTA would also like suggestions from members on the kind of support they need and how ACTA can help.

The association has also launched a new Canada-US relations portal that’s designed to keep members up-to-date on the situation.

Campbell’s presentation and more can be found at https://www.acta.ca/canada-us-relations.php .

Paradis told her audience that ACTA is continuing to work with its various committees and with its members in the regions across the country as well as groups in the US.

Said Paradis: “Very important in this crisis is ACTA’s continued partnership with its American partners. It’s one thing for Canada to advocate, but very important for American colleagues to advocate – the US is the number one destination for Canadians, while Mexico is the number one destination for Americans.”

Stay tuned, more to come from ACTA as this crisis continues to unfold.