The Queensland government is drawing up plans to help bolster the tourism sector for recovery “beyond 2021”.
The $25.5 billion tourism industry, which employs 234,000 Queenslanders, is facing anxiety as JobKeeper comes to an end later this month.
Sadly, many tourism operators, particularly those dependent on international visitors, could go under.
Both the state and federal governments have announced stimulus measures, but many people don’t believe they will make up for the loss of federal wage subsidies.
A road to recovery
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has appointed a tourism industry panel to make recommendations about how the sector can recover after this year.
“Our tourism operators continue to do it tough right throughout the state,” she said in a statement on Thursday.
“But thanks to the way Queenslanders have responded to this pandemic, our economy is in better shape than others throughout the country and throughout the world.
“We have a great opportunity to build back better. That’s what this is all about.”
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
Aviation guru Liz Savage will lead the panel, which will include former Tourism Australia chief executive Andrew McEvoy and Tourism and Events Queensland chair Brett Godfrey.
It will look at increasing the state’s share of international students, rebuilding airline capacity and hosting events in regional areas visited by road.
The panel will also consider emerging markets and products and the state’s branding against competitors.
Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe says the recommendations will mainly be about the recovery after this year rather than the next few months.
“With vaccines being rolled out in Australia and around the world, the panel will work with industry on a considered and thorough plan for Queensland tourism beyond 2021,”
Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe
The Queensland government announced on Wednesday it would continue to waive Cairns Marina fees for Great Barrier Reef operators.
Fees were suspended in February 2020 and will remain waived until February 2022.
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The Palaszczuk government is also offering $200 tourism experience vouchers for state residents and $150 to students to visit the reef.
Mr Hinchliffe said on Wednesday 15,000 tourism experience vouchers had been awarded to 106,000 applicants, with 160 already redeemed.
The federal government has unveiled a $1.2 billion tourism and aviation package that will halve the cost of about 800,000 return flights to a dozen tourism destinations across Australia.
The locations in Queensland include Cairns, the Gold Coast, Proserpine and Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays and the Sunshine Coast.
The Queensland government has criticised the plan because it doesn’t cover Queenslanders wanting to fly within the state.
Source: AAP