The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) today confirmed it is ramping up The Facts campaign in order to counter mainstream media misreporting on travel agents’ handling of refunds and credits.
AFTA has been correcting errors of fact in mainstream reporting on a story by story basis as well as proactively raising awareness through strategic engagement of mainstream media.
The widening of the campaign will today see a The Facts on Travel Agents and Refunds newsroom brief sent to every mainstream TV, print and radio newsroom in Australia as part of the ongoing awareness raising campaign.
Quotes attributable to Jayson Westbury, Chief Executive AFTA
We continue to work hard with supportive media, both trade and mainstream, to showcase the fact that travel agents right around Australia are going above and beyond to support clients and non-clients.
We have been selective and strategic in this approach, choosing influential media with as broad a footprint as possible so that we get maximum impact. We have also been very careful not to give oxygen to stories or outlets where there is a clear agenda to misrepresent a situation including publishing first and seeking clarification and comment post-publication. Where this has happened (and thankfully this is limited), we have advised the facts and made a formal complaint to the Press Council.
However, mainstream media like so many sectors has also been decimated as a result of COVID-19 and there is increasingly reliance on freelance journalists especially in straight news reporting who aren’t necessarily experienced or aware of the facts. We need to continue to be strategic in our approach so that what we do makes the lives of agents easier.
In addition to sending The Facts on Travel Agents and Refunds brief to all newsrooms and continuing to do so as needed, we will be incorporating key sections into every AFTA media release and adding to our website.
All travel agents across Australia should know that AFTA is doing all that we can to hold strong on a positive media strategy at this dreadful time of COVID-19, but we are not able to control stories that are released by some media outlets at this time.
