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Published on : Thursday, January 21, 2021
Tourism chiefs are urging the federal government to extend jobkeeper-style payments for workers in the sector beyond March, following predictions that international travel will not recommence this year.
Darren Rudd, the Australian Federation of Travel Agents chief executive said that he had spoken with the tourism minister Dan Tehan and that he has supported the idea of further helping the industry.
However, Rudd said that there are some cabinet ministers who would need to be convinced that the sector deserves extra support above other industries.
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not rule out further support for the tourism sector.
“I’m not going to pre-empt or fly kites on these things,” the prime minister said while in Queensland, stressing that domestic travel remained the “bread and butter” of the industry, accounting for 70 to 80% of the sector.
“We make the decisions about what’s necessary after working closely with those in the sector about what is needed…that’s how we’ll continue to approach this,” said Morrison.
Rudd said that 40,000 of their members had contacted their local MPs asking for extended support. “It is needed, but it will be under another name because the government has given its word it will end jobkeeper,” said Rudd.
Rudd said that the tourism industry, worth $46bn a year before the pandemic, was already suffering from a “mass exodus of skills and knowledge” since the initial border closure in March last year.
He said, “People are making this move out of necessity. They’ve loved their job, but more will have to go unless there is an extension of support.”
Arrivals from well-vaccinated countries are not likely to be granted quarantine-free entry. Rudd said that he believed that the government needs to prioritize working with countries with low community transmission like New Zealand, Singapore and Japan, about opening two-way travel bubbles.
Michael Johnson, the Tourism Accommodation Australia chief executive said, “We need that bespoke support so that we don’t lose some of this country’s great hotels and tourism operators, because international tourism will be an important part of our recovery at some stage, when borders reopen.”
Tags: australia tourism