Critical feedback from its own members has led the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) to push for urgent reform on travel advice through the Middle East.
Travel agents and tour operators report that while clients are transiting through major hubs like Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha entirely without incident, Australia’s rigid Level 4 (“Do Not Travel”) blanket advisory is exposing these travellers to an unintended travel insurance void.
This feedback has prompted ATIA to launch a ‘Campaign for Commonsense’.
The initiative comes as new research reveals that some 5.5 million Australians have delayed or cancelled travel plans for 2026.
A Finder survey of 1,019 respondents revealed 26% of Aussies say they have cancelled or postponed a trip due to the war in the Middle East.
“For millions of people, the dream holiday has suddenly become a source of stress and uncertainty,” said Taylor Blackburn, personal finance and insurance specialist at Finder.
“Aussies are reading the headlines and thinking twice before locking in expensive overseas trips.
“Travel is one of the first things Australians cut back on when global events make the world feel unstable or unpredictable.”
ATIA is now mobilising its national membership to encourage the government to change travel advice on the Middle East.
“This campaign started exactly where it should: with our members,” said Dean Long, ATIA CEO.
“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.”
ATIA members can now access a Member Toolkit with social media assets, key talking points for clients and template letters to key decision makers.
Key global allies including the UK, Germany, France and Ireland have already updated their risk parameters, downgrading transit through these airports to Level 3.
ATIA is a staunch supporter of DFAT and the Smartraveller network but warns that 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.
ATIA is 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.
“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,” added Mr Long.
“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.
“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.”
