Tourism support flagged

AUSTRALIA’S new Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, Dan Tehan, has confirmed the Federal Government is considering the introduction of a new targeted package for the battered tourism industry.

Citing the likelihood that international travel would be off the cards for between nine and 12 months during a group interview with Aussie journalists, Tehan acknowledged the sector continued to face a very challenging period of trade, and that there was a fear among businesses that they would struggle to survive when the JobKeeper assistance package runs out at the end of Mar.

“I’ve already been engaging heavily with the tourism industry to listen to their concerns and also to get thoughts, ideas and feedback from them as to how the government may be able to assist them while we wait for international tourism to come back online,” the Minister told The Guardian Australia.

While Tehan said it was too early to detail the size and scope of any potential support package, he did confirm PM Scott Morrison had not ruled out the prospect of a targeted tourism package.

MEANWHILE the Minister has confirmed that travel agents have so far received in excess of $30 million as part of its COVID-19 Consumer Travel Support Program support package (TD breaking news Fri).

Tehan said that so far more than 800 agents had received payments since its launch in Dec, with a further 1,500 applications currently being processed.

“I encourage all travel agents who haven’t applied yet to go online and start an application,” Tehan noted, citing 2,500 eligible SMEs with turnover below $500k who have not yet applied.