Published on : Monday, May 10, 2021
With the Australian Government telling international borders will not be opening until 2022, the Australian Tourism Export Council emphasizes that it’s vital for internationally focused businesses of tourism all over Australia to get clearness on constant support of the government to give them certainty in planning for their future recovery.
To quote ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley, “the Government is indicating our international borders will be closed to visitors until at least the end of the year and while many tourism businesses are surviving with domestic visitation, there is a group of uniquely exposed businesses who receive little or no benefit from the current domestic travel stimulus programs.”
“While we welcome these stimulus initiatives which are helping drive domestic travel, there are many tourism products which domestic travellers are simply not booking, like day tours and attractions. Plus we have the inbound tour operator cohort who are unable to pivot their business model to benefit from domestic travel support programs.”
“While these businesses have welcomed the support packages offered by the Government so far, they are crying out to know if this support will continue until international borders reopen.”
“Without this certainty, they have no confidence to invest in their future or begin planning for our industry’s restart, let alone continuing to hold on to the rubble of their businesses.”
Shelley has recommended that Inbound Tour Operators were mainly exposed and will run in dearth of revenue until the borders reopen. To the export tourism supply chain, these businesses are crucial, given they connect Australian tourism products to our lucrative international markets.
“ITOs are the businesses which sell Australian tourism product across the world. They continue to manage strong forward booking enquires for future international visitors despite not having any revenue.”
“They are not asking for much, just the clarity of knowing if they will receive ongoing support to sustain operations until borders open. This knowledge will mean they can make the hard decisions about their ability to survive or if they should simply wind up their operations.”
“This small cohort of ITO businesses influence, convert and manage unique Australian itineraries which are featured on the websites and in travel brochures of thousands of Aussie Specialist travel agencies around the world.”
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