The Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) and 11 major suppliers across air, touring and cruising joined forces for Middle East Travel Disruption briefings on travel with a clear message: Keep your clients travelling.
The real-time Supplier Update Forum: Middle East Travel Disruption briefings took place on 18 March 2026, delivering direct guidance to ATIA-accredited travel advisors and tour operators.
Qantas, Qatar Airways, APT Travel Group, Intrepid Travel, TTC Tour Brands, G Adventures, Globus family of brands, Abercrombie & Kent, Crystal Cruises, Collette, Go Insurance and Passport Care joined the back-to-back member-only webinar Middle East Travel Disruption briefings.
These suppliers held sessions on their current policies, operational status and practical guidance for advisors and tour operators managing affected customers.
Across each session, five consistent advice themes emerged for the ATIA member network. These include offering credits and rerouting instead of cancelling flights with tour operators offering flexible credit and rebooking options through to the end of 2027.
ATIA also highlighted that alternative destinations without Gulf transit are available to sell with tour operators reporting recent strong demand for these options.
As previously noted, war and conflict are standard exclusions in Australian travel insurance, and advisors can also access the most up-to-date supplier policies through trade portals, along with support from BDM networks for complex individual cases.
ATIA CEO Dean Long said the industry body will continue to convene Middle East Travel Disruption briefings with suppliers as the Gulf situation develops.
“These briefings gave our members direct, unfiltered access to the people making decisions in real time, so they could walk into every client conversation with confidence rather than uncertainty,” he said.
“Our travel agents and tour operators have been absolutely extraordinary through this period, managing complex situations, calming anxious clients and finding solutions that simply would not exist without their expertise. That is exactly what professional travel advice looks like, and that is exactly what this association exists to support.”
