Australian’s love to travel, whether its to a coastal retreat, a nearby camping spot, exploring the outback or going international. As travel restrictions begin to ease post COVID-19, those of us who had to (sadly) cancel our holiday plans have probably all learnt a valuable lesson about how to book a holiday and who to book with.

Read more here about the pros and cons of booking with a travel agent vs going it alone.

Using a local travel agent is a great way to support the Australian travel industry and can provide you with first-hand knowledge and insider tips, value for money, as well as security if anything is to go wrong – and this is now more important than ever.

An agent can be useful if any issues or emergencies are to occur during your travel and you cannot, or are unable to, get in contact with an airline or company yourself. This can include simple day-to-day communication, such as missing a connecting flight and needing to reschedule airport transfers, to aiding in more complicated issues.

As the COVID-19 pandemic was unfolding, it was travel agents who were at the frontline dealing with numerous cancellations for their clients, while others were left scrambling and on hold for hours as they attempted to contact airlines, holiday web platforms and other travel groups directly themselves. Chat to your local travel agent about how they handled the pandemic, and we’re sure you’ll hear some great customer service stories of agents going above and beyond to help their clients, without any financial gain.

Supporting Australian businesses

If you prefer to plan your holiday yourself it’s important that you are aware of where and who your money is going to. When booking with companies that are based overseas, there can sometimes be no recourse, whereas booking with an Australian company means that you are protected by Australian law.

We’ve compiled a short list of companies to demonstrate where your money goes when booking, and some ideas about how you can keep your money local and support Australian businesses.

Foreign owned

Expedia		Based in Bellevue WA, USA – USA owned
WOTIF		Owned by Expedia, USA
Skyscanner		Based in Edinburgh, owned by tripcom.com – Owned by China
Trivago		German, with majority owned by Expedia USA
Bookings.com		Based in Norwalk CT, USA – USA owned
Hotels.com		Owned by Expedia USA
Kayak		Owned by Bookings.com group, USA owned

Keeping it Aussie

Travel Wholesalers		Wholesalers based in Australia, such as Ormina Tours (for Europe). There are also others around that do bookings to direct consumer for other destinations.
Book with hotels directly		Go to a hotel directly and you may find a discount. Some hotels may be owned by international companies, but they are employing Australian staff on the ground.
Book with a travel agent		Find an agent you trust. It is a myth that you can get holidays cheaper bypassing them. And if you can, let them know and they can try and work with that. This way you will also be keep somebody in a job.
Webjet		Based in Melbourne VIC, Australia. Australian owned
Luxury Escapes		Based in Melbourne VIC, Australia. Australian owned
Trip a Deal		Based in Byron Bay NSW, Australia. Australian owned

 

Make sure to always read the Terms & Conditions when booking to find out more about cancellation policies.