ATIA has launched a national membership ‘Campaign for Commonsense’ to change the ‘rigid’ Level 4 (Do Not Travel) travel advice on transit through the Middle East to Level 3.
This follows a weekend of major mainstream media coverage on the issue with ATIA CEO Dean Long featuring in extensive national exposure across News Corp, commercial television networks, and radio.
Travel agents and tour operators have reported that while clients are transiting through major hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha entirely without incident, Australia’s Level 4 (Do Not Travel) blanket advisory is exposing these travellers to an unintended travel insurance void.
ATIA said while it is a staunch supporter of DFAT and the Smartraveller network, maintaining an advisory disconnected from the reality on the ground is actively eroding public trust, with returning Australians telling family and friends to ignore official advice.
After the recent national media coverage, ATIA members will now be able to amplify the call for commonsense via a Member Toolkit with social media assets, key talking points for clients and template letters to key decision makers.
“This campaign started exactly where it should: with our members,” Long said. “Our travel advisor and tour operator members raised the alarm because their clients are transiting these airports safely every day, yet many of them are flying into a travel insurance void because the official advice refuses to decouple a brief airport transit from an in-country holiday.
“We have worked constructively and quietly with the government for two months now but we have reached an inflection point where Australia is a total outlier,” he said.
Smartraveller trust at risk
ATIA is now demanding a staged, proportionate response that moves airport transit to Level 3 (“Reconsider your need to travel”), recognising that a 90-minute airside transit carries a fundamentally different risk profile to an extended holiday in-country.
“More than 150,000 Australians have transited these hubs safely over the last six weeks alone. We are absolutely not telling people to holiday in Dubai or Doha; we are asking for a staged, common-sense approach for transit passengers,” Long said.
“The greatest risk right now is that Australians stop trusting Smartraveller altogether because the advice doesn’t match the reality on the ground. That is a dreadful outcome for travellers, for the industry, and for the government.
“Following this weekend’s incredible wave of national media support, we are providing our members with the tools and assets to stand together and push for a common-sense adjustment immediately.”
Key global allies including the UK, Germany, France and Ireland have already updated their risk parameters, downgrading transit through these airports to Level 3.
