A travel agent, who wanted to remain anonymous, wrote to us, responding to the Travel News article: Salary catastrophe continued in March
Dear Editor
I am not one to complain about much and I never write to anyone about articles but this particular article I can relate to.
As a single mother supporting two teenage boys and a travel agent for more than 20 years, I can say it has been the worst catastrophe that has ever hit our industry or my life even, financially that is. I am an ITC who earns commission only.
So, I have gone from earning a salary on which I could support myself and my children, to earning next to nothing. TERS helped for a while to pay only a third of the bills. I have been unable to pay rent for over a year, pay my vehicle instalments or even school fees.
I have raked up almost R200K of debt and I actually don’t know how I am going to get out of it. Family and travel clients have been trying to assist me by means of donations but unfortunately this is not sustainable. I have even tried to find alternative work but because my experience is mainly in the tourism and travel industry, it is extremely difficult. Also, employers are just not employing right now either, because their finances have been affected. It is a vicious cycle.
The question is what do we do, how do we keep ourselves from living on the street?
Agent X
