The government needs to understand that the concern being raised by travel agents regarding the financial measures the government announced last Wednesday comes from not wanting to lay off employees, President of Federated Association of Travel and Tourism Agents (FATTA) Iain Tonna told The Malta Independent.

"While we appreciate the government's intentions to try and support, in reality the measures that it announced do not go far enough to help us in achieving out goal; to save, or at least prolong, as many jobs as we can," Tonna said.

He explained that the deferral of Tax and VAT is not really helpful to travel agencies as at the moment they are experiencing a period of zero sales. "If this were a situation that will last for a week or two, then yes, those measures will help short-term. But we are looking at a situation in our sector that is going to last a lot longer."

"I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but the way things are we are losing a whole summer, which in tourism means that we are losing a whole year," he said. Even if health concerns are cleared by mid-April, the consumers' confidence in travelling - both in terms of those travelling out of Malta and tourists coming to Malta - will still take a while to build up.

Additionally, one has to factor in that people are going to suffer financially as they are losing part-time jobs - some even their full-time jobs. "This means that they have less reliable income and if people have to curve their spending, travel is the first thing that is going to feel the pinch."

Tonna also pointed out that 70% of travel agencies' costs come from payroll. So, while trying to keep people in a job with zero revenue they are still incurring 70% of their normal costs.

"You can tell people to take their vacation leave or narrow their work hours down to a 4-day week but those are all short-term things. Travel agencies can only sustain that for a limited period and if business does not bounce back soon, without support we can't survive."

Tonna went on to discuss some measures that the government put in place, starting with the earmarking of funds that support the banks to help businesses through this period.

He said: "some of our members are finding it difficult to get an appointment with the bank let alone discuss anything as this is not only affecting the travel industry."

Other measures he touched upon were the measures that the government took for payroll support.

The first was that anyone who had to shut down operations completely will receive two days' worth of revenue every week, capped at €800 a month. "Travel agencies are not covered in the legal notice of forced closure, so they do not qualify for the two days," Tonna said.

The other measure is for businesses that have experienced a decrease in trade of at least 25%, and they will be given the equivalent of one day's work a week per employee, capped at €800 per month.

"The issue is that we are in-between, because a lot of us are still operating but our turnover is dropping by almost a 100%. Why would a business suffering a 100% drop get the same support as one that reported a 25% drop?"

He acknowledged that the government is looking at the situation but he believes that it cannot generalise these measures.

"I understand that everything is happening fast and the government needs to take action but I think there needs to be more sectorial consultation. Maybe the general measures could be applicable to all, but then each sector should have the opportunity to put their case forward and make a case for additional measures."

He said that, while he does not want to resort to such measures, "as a businessman, if I see that I am going to close in three months' time anyway than I might as well close the doors now and cut my losses and I think that most business people will approach it that way."

However, he emphasised that, ultimately, the goal of most businesses is to try to keep as many people in their job as possible; "everything else is secondary."