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As many as one in five businesses in Australia s $50 billion tourism industry could fail in 2021, with operators and advocates pushing the Morrison government to extend temporary wage assistance.
New modelling by the Tourism & Transport Forum shows nearly 32,000 businesses are at risk this year, amid coronavirus travel restrictions and Australia s ongoing international border shutdown.
Entrepreneur Peter Wright says many tourism operators won t survive another year of pandemic pain.
David Hill
Prepared for the federal government by modellers Stafford Strategy, the figures show of the nearly 160,000 tourism businesses nationally, those more than three hours drive away from major cities are particularly at risk if the $90 billion JobKeeper scheme isn t extended beyond March.
Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond says “there will not be a tourism industry” this time next year unless the government has a uniform response to COVID outbreaks.
“The tourism industry has not argued at any turn that every state has the right and the responsibility to protect the health of their citizens, all we’re asking for is some uniformity around the country,” she told Sky News host Chris Smith.
Ms Osmond said the lack of uniform response to outbreaks has left the tourism industry not knowing what to expect and people being too scared to leave their area in case they cannot return.
She also called on government to sort out the state border issues especially in light of the likely to be extended international travel ban and to “think differently”.
“If you are not going to sort out the state border issue and we have the very likely prospect of an even more extended period of no international visitor, if you want to have a tourism industry in about twe
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Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says there is still no timeframe for a potential South Pacific travel bubble after the NSW Premier suggested the measure be implemented this year.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said there was âno reasonâ why travel bubbles couldnât be opened between the Pacific and New Zealand well within the next 12 months, but Mr Hunt said some countries being considered were currently still considered a moderate-risk level.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian addresses a national cabinet meeting in December.
Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
âOur goal is, if the Pacific countries are able to be shown to be at the lowest risk level, and they are doing extraordinarily well, and that we re able to put in the appropriate protections, then we could well expand that bubble,â Mr Hunt said on Thursday.