Tourism trouble: Peak bodies back direct support for tourism sector

THE Great Ocean Road’s peak tourism body has added its voice to the push for a tourism-specific variant of JobKeeper as the subsidy’s legislated end on March 28 draws closer.

Great Ocean Road Regional Tourism (GORRT) is also concerned about the continuing impacts of the absence of international tourists and the uncertainty about state border closures, as is Tourism Greater Geelong and the Bellarine (TGGB).

The Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) has been pushing for months for JobKeeper to continue, and commissioned research that found the NSW COVID-19 outbreak and resulting border restrictions pushed spending down by $6.8 billion from December 24 to January 31, and forecasted potential job losses of almost 320,000 by September if JobKeeper was not extended, including 85,300 Victorian jobs.

“We will need further support in the form of something that looks, walks and talks like JobKeeper, even if it does not go by this name, if we are to have any chance of surviving then recovering,” TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said last month.

GORRT board chair Wayne Kayler-Thomson said GORRT still projected the international market would not return to the Great Ocean Road – Victoria’s most popular destination for overseas travellers – until 2023.

“We’re going to need support because there’s going to be increasing competition for that market, so we need to be prepared for that,” Mr Kayler-Thomson said

“We can’t wait until 2023; we need to be starting to work towards how we might position Victoria’s assets, particularly the regional assets like the Great Ocean Road.”

TGGB executive director Brett Ince said several local operators relied heavily on the international market, particularly the wildlife and experience industries.

“We are certainly supporting what the TTF CEO is saying in terms of direct support,” Mr Ince said.

“JobKeeper is one of those policies that has got a lot of these businesses through.”

Mr Kayler-Thomson said Victoria was now effectively disadvantaged because of the lockdown and border closures.

“While we’ve had a busy summer season, after the Australia Day weekend, projections of accommodation bookings fall away very dramatically,” he said.

“There are question marks about whether domestic visitors will fill that gap, but we need to be focusing on it anyway, because that’s the best way to do it, and that includes the need to attract interstate visitors as well as those out of Melbourne.”

“There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

Mr Ince said he appreciated the need for the restrictions, as there would be no tourism industry if there was a COVID-19 outbreak here.

“But it does certainly show the importance of us continuing to work our Victorian markets to make sure we sustain our visitation,” he said.

The federal Coalition has consistently emphasised the temporary nature of JobKeeper.

At the weekend, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the Queensland government should “put their hands in their pockets” instead of asking for JobKeeper to be extended.

“We’ll continue to monitor it (the tourism sector) and we’ll provide additional support where necessary.”

Victorian Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson said the Coalition had just launched a $5 million campaign across national advertising, TV and event sponsorships to encourage Australians to book a holiday in Australia this year.

“Our tourism industry is so important because it supports more than 666,000 local jobs, and every dollar spent on an Australian holiday this year will help our tourism sector,” Ms Henderson said.