NEWS


mental health have been among issues raised in T MENTAL HEALTH


Lucy Huxley


Kieran Hartwell


ravel Weekly’s latest series of video discussions AGENCY BOSSES


Simon Morgan


Chris O’Sullivan


Steve Witt


Watch these and upcoming T


ravel Weekly webcasts at: travelweekly.co.uk/media


Lucy Huxley


Shane Lewis-Riley


‘People should reach out for help if they need it’


P


eople should not feel uncomfortable reaching out for help about mental health wellbeing during


the current crisis. Isolation, debt, anxiety and stress


can all be exacerbated by social distancing and working remotely from colleagues, panellists on a Travel Weekly webcast said. Chris O’Sullivan, head of business


development and engagement at The Mental Health Foundation, said it was “completely normal to feel distressed” when forced to adapt to new ways of living very quickly. Kieran Hartwell, managing


director for corporate travel at Travel Counsellors, said mental health could be affected in various ways. “The immediate gut reaction is to


worry about money,” he said. “But then there’s a second soul-


destroying layer of ‘we’ve worked for months and years making some of these bookings, and now we have to unwind all that to make sure people are repatriated’, and then there’s the future worry of ‘are bookings going to come back in the same capacity?’”


travelweekly.co.uk Shane Lewis-Riley, associate vice-


president of Virgin Voyages, said: “There are so many things for people to worry about and they’ve all sort of hit us at once. I would describe it as a rollercoaster ride. “There are people out there


who realise they are struggling. It’s really important we allow them opportunities to discuss it.” All three panellists said the


lockdown was an opportunity to reassess priorities and to take stock. Lewis-Riley urged those who


would otherwise be on the road to make the most of unexpected time at home and reassess processes. O’Sullivan said it was important


to plan days when working remotely, and not to get downhearted if to-do lists aren’t completed. Travel Counsellors has increased


support for its 2,000 members by extending its benevolent fund to help business owners in financial stress. Hartwell said: “Quite often asking


someone for help is the hardest thing. If someone makes that first step, we’re trying to make sure we’re building on the back of that.”


Agency chiefs highlight T


flaws in furlough scheme We have never been busier and yet we have no income. We’ve fallen in a gap


he government’s Staff Retention Scheme does not work for travel firms and there would be an


“unholy car crash” if agencies were to furlough all their staff. Tailor Made Travel chief executive


Simon Morgan said: “The tourism minister classified destination management organisations as crucial business support workers. Travel agents should be viewed the same. We have furloughed about 85% of our staff and those left definitely aren’t making money; they are processing refunds and battling with clients’ arguments with tour operators. “They are crucial to the business


and to the pipeline of client funds. There would be an unholy car crash if we all closed our doors and all went on furlough. We wouldn’t be able to service the bookings, the refunds, the finances and we would just return to a ton of chargebacks.” Steve Witt, co-founder of Not


Just Travel, added: “I was pleasantly surprised by the level of support the government has given but travel


seems to sit outside of that support. “We have never been busier and


yet we have no income. We have fallen in a gap. Furlough assumes you have got no work to do. It’s the same for our homeworkers. They also fall between the gaps of most of the support that’s available as they either haven’t been in business long enough, are self-employed or a lot of their income is based on bookings with future commissions.” Paul Hardwick, head of


commercial at Fred Olsen Travel, said: “If you work for Costa Coffee, they close the doors and there’s nothing to do until they open again. But with travel, every day there’s a new change, new extensions to suspensions, or new terms and conditions. We have to still work to look after our customers.”


Paul Hardwick


16 APRIL 2020


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