Agents will follow the route of the Norwegian Prima's voyages next year. Image / Supplied
Agents will follow the route of the Norwegian Prima's voyages next year. Image / Supplied
Travel agents on both sides of the Tasman will be clocking up the kilometres over the next month in an initiative aimed at celebrating mental wellness.
While with every Covid vaccination there are some growing reasons for optimism about the future of travel, the sector has been devastated by the pandemic and the financial and mental health of those in it badly affected.
The ''Walk for Wellness'' event encourages travel agents in Australia and New Zealand to track their steps towards a combined goal of 100,000km via a mobile app, while taking part in weekly challenges and connecting with their peers in the travel community along the way.
It is the brainchild of Ben Angell, vice-president and managing director of cruise line NCL in Asia-Pacific.
''At its core, Walk for Wellness is really simple – it's the recognition that sometimes, the simple act of going for a walk can do wonders for your physical and mental wellbeing," Angell said.
Twenty months into border closures and travel restrictions there were continued challenges to mental wellbeing for many in travel.
''Which is why, now more than ever, we wanted to provide a positive outlet as the industry prepares for the rebound of travel,'' he told the Herald.
The initiative coincides with mental health awareness weeks on both sides of the Tasman and Angell said it would boost spirits and connect the travel agent community.
The 100,000km walking map features the voyage that Norwegian Prima – NCL's newest vessel set to launch in 2022 – will sail during her inaugural Europe and Caribbean seasons.
About 300 New Zealand travel agents and 700 more in Australia have signed up. Last year's challenge saw 549 participants across Australia and New Zealand accomplish a combined total distance of 74,926 kilometres on their virtual journey across the globe, walking all the way from South America to Asia.
Constant uncertainty
Travel agent numbers in this country have fallen from an estimated 5000 to 1500. Brent Thomas, Travel Agents Association of NZ president, said the ongoing uncertainty about the timing of the recovery was hard on remaining members, especially in Auckland which has endured months of lockdown.
''People are feeling it - trying to run a business from home in an environment for agents which has been the most difficult ever weighs on people mentally.''
Ben Angell, vice-president and managing director of NCL Asia Pacific.
Some had been forced to refinance or sell their homes to keep their businesses running, he said. During the pandemic agents had worked for nothing at times and colleagues and staff had been laid off.
"They're more than work colleagues, they're family in a way," said Thomas who is chief operating officer at House of Travel.
The economic toll had affected the mental health of agents.
"They know long term it will come right. The unknown is how long it will last for. You keep doing things in three-month chunks but that becomes six months and then its 18. That makes it really hard."
Thomas said he appreciated how difficult it was for the Government to put dates on reopening but agents wanted to see how lifting travel restrictions related to vaccine targets.
"It's the uncertainty that plays on the mind," he said.
"There's light at the end of the tunnel but we've got to remember at the start of next year it will be two years - two years in an industry that has little or no income and for periods had negative income.
"The vaccination rate is going to be the catalyst for the change but we still don't know what that means - what low, medium and high-risk countries are, how MIQ will work and these play on people's minds."
He welcomed NCL's initiative.
"At the end of a hard day there's nothing like getting out there and doing a walk for an hour. It cleanses the mind."
Agents were encouraged to keep in contact with each other and seek out those they hadn't hear from for a while.
"In these [times] we don't worry about the competitive barriers as we're all in this together and we're trying to work out of it," said Thomas.
The enormous hit
Many travel agents were sole operators or small businesses. Stuart Nash, the small business minister, said they had done it tough.
"I don't think anyone is trying to shy away from the fact that not only is it financially tough for a lot of small businesses, but if you're a small business owner operating in a climate of great uncertainty that can be mentally tough," he said.
"I would say that as an industry it has been particularly hard hit with very few Kiwis travelling overseas, and their business model really has suffered enormously - I do accept that."
Nash, who is also tourism minister, said there was no plan to replicate a scheme where $4.5m had been allocated to district health boards covering the five regions in the South Island worst affected by the absence of inbound tourists.
However, he said travel agents could access the wage subsidy and business resurgence payment if they met income drop criteria and they had been able to participate in a $47.5m Government scheme where they were paid a cut of overseas holiday refunds or credits they earned for cancelled trips by Kiwis.
Nash said he was chairing the Apec small business ministerial virtual meeting and, of the two major topics, one is around building resilience through digitalisation and the other is about mental health and wellbeing.
"We'll be looking at what other countries are doing in that space."
He said there were a number of independent helplines where business people could get help from professionals and the business.govt.nz newsletter that goes out to about 800,000 small businesses every fortnight had a range of mental health tools.
Somebody close could also help.
"Whether it's your life partner or a really good mate that you trust, it is important to reach out."
Support from the top
More than half of Flight Centre New Zealand's 1200 staff lost their jobs last year and the number of stores fell by more than half from 130 before the pandemic.
Heidi Walker, the firm's Peopleworks leader, said it had worked hard to ensure there was support for its staff through that process and beyond.
"This is a really a tricky time for everybody in the travel industry. We've really been making some conscious decisions to try and support our people and give them certainty where we can on things that they can control and influence around them," she said.
Training for leaders across the business emphasised the need for mental health support and followed from a partnership it had with the Mental Health Foundation for the last three years which concentrated on mental health and resilience.
Travel agents dealt with some clients' personally stressful events - especially those struggling to get home - at a time when they faced stress in their own lives.
"It would be fair to say that the people within the industry are having to really dig deep during Covid. There's uncertainty for them as individuals but that becomes secondary because we're a service-based business," said Walker.
The Walk for Wellness was an example of the travel industry working together.
"We've seen much more collaborative approaches - we've gone from having competitors to colleagues," she said.
"Not everybody, maybe not even a family and friends, understand what we have to deal with so it's created a much stronger network within the industry and we support each other in a common purpose."
