PACK YOUR BAGS

GOVT WILL PAY YOU TO HOLIDAY AT HOME

TASMANIAN families will be able to claim up to $550 towards an intrastate holiday as part of a plan aimed at rejuvenating the state’s tourism economy.

The $7.5m Make Yourself At Home state government travel initiative – offering accommodation and experience vouchers – will open for online registrations from 9am September 7, running through to December.

The initiative will work as a rebate scheme, with the government to refund costs once travellers have completed and presented receipts from their stay or experience. Tasmanians must first register online before receiving a voucher.

The state government believes the allocated vouchers will be snapped up quickly, after a similar Northern Territory campaign sold out within 10 hours.

The scheme is open to all permanent Tasmanian residents.

State Labor said the initiative excluded certain business types and Tasmanians without internet access.

The vouchers can be used to claim $100 on the cost of commercial accommodation, including short-stay accommodation properties, or $50 on tourism experiences, such as cruises or adventures.

Hadley’s Orient Hotel chief executive Ben Targett said he hoped visitors from across the state would take up accommodation at the Hobart hotel.

“We’ve had a hard time through the winter with the restrictions, so to hear the details of the scheme is exciting because it’s going to create demand and that’s something we haven’t had enough of,” he said.

Tasmanians will not have to travel outside their municipality to use the vouchers.

Premier Peter Gutwein said people could also make use of the scheme more than once, if funds permitted, and

only after the completion of a person’s first accommodation stay or experience.

“The way it’s been set up is that once you’ve applied for a voucher and then been and had your experience and got your refund, if there is still funds available as part of the $7.5 million scheme, you will be able to request a second voucher,” he said.

Destination Southern TasCEO Alex Heroys welcomed the program.

“Any business that gains extra bookings through the scheme will go out of their way to welcome local visitors. It will help many tourism operations to survive until the borders can be reopened again,” Mr Heroys said.

Mr Gutwein said the initiative would create an economic boost “two to three times the investment that we’ve made”.

Labor leader Rebecca White said there were some issues with the initiative “which I can see posing problems”.

“There might not be people who have the cash upfront that can go and have this experience,” she said. “There might be people who miss out because they don’t have intermania net access. And there are going to be businesses that are excluded because the government has excluded events, cafes and restaurants.

“We encourage the government to work with the tourism and hospitality sector to make sure everyone has equity of access and businesses who most need this support can get it.”