Federal Tourism Minister urges states open their borders

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham has expressed his disappointment that the Tasmanian and Western Australian Government have extended their border closures, saying there is no reason why states shouldn't open their borders to others without community transmission of COVID-19.

Minister Birmingham’s concerns follows the latest National Visitor Survey (NVS) data which shows that 9.6 million fewer domestic overnight trips were taken in April 2020 compared to April 2019, with domestic overnight spending down 91%, or $7 billion, to $666 million in the same period.

Minister Birmingham said while anecdotal feedback from the recent school holidays indicated things had improved in some parts of the country, this data still reinforced the need for Australians who are in a position to do so, to back the sector.

The new monthly figures released by Tourism Research Australia (TRA) shows that an easing of some COVID-19 restrictions in May resulted in a limited improvement but that overall, overnight trips still dropped by 67% to 3.1 million compared to May 2019, while domestic overnight spend was down 82% to $1.1 billion for the month, a loss of $4.8 billion on May 2019.

Minister Birmingham stated “whilst our Government’s economic support for the industry, which includes the extension of JobKeeper, is helping to cushion the blow, these figures are a reminder of the need for us to support our incredible tourism operators.

“The necessary closure of our international borders has been critical in the fight against COVID-19, however it has meant those tourism regions and operators who are reliant on international visitors continue to do it incredibly tough.”

Tasmanian visitor economy strategy
Although it has announced its border will close until at least 1st December, looking beyond COVID-19, the Tasmanian Government has launched the T21 Visitor Economy Action Plan 2020-2022.

Focusing on rebuilding the tourism and hospitality sectors, the Plan has been developed through the T21 partnership between the Tasmanian Government and the tourism industry through the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania.

The Tasmanian government has also announced a $7.5 million program to support industry, which includes travel incentives to encourage Tasmanians to stay midweek in accommodation or to purchase a tourism experience for any day of the week.

Local businesses will also be encouraged to conduct overnight or off-site conferences, meetings and team building workshops around Tasmania.

Image: Hobart from Mt Wellington.