I'd say the first thing is to blame his non-booking on someone else. Someone was supposed to book him in. You can make him more of a victim then.

I would ask why the man has an American accent but is in Australia and yet has never been on a plane. I liked the little cutaways. Generally this was good. I liked it. It had a nice feel to it. Although I can't see exactly where you are going with it. Which is sometimes a good thing as it keeps a reader interested.

Beware of having too many incidental characters in it though. In ten pages you had Terry, Peter, Carol, Woman, Barman...and if he is moving to a new locale then I can see how it could be a problem. UNless you have something along the lines of all the people in his life are starting to look the same. So whereever he goes, people look the same.

That's a mad idea. Oh, Ted, I went too fast. I feel dizzy.