Australian Coastal Safaris says SA must ‘trump’ NT, Tas on travel vouchers
An SA regional tourism operator wants the state to “trump” NT and Tasmania with an improved voucher scheme and the government has responded, saying it is considering a “range of initiatives”.
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Calls to support the state’s struggling tourism sector are growing louder with regional operators pushing for travel incentives ahead of peak season.
Port Lincoln-based Australian Coastal Safaris has been running tours since 2005, with 75 per cent of its customers overseas cashed-up travellers looking for personalised experiences.
“Our legs were cut out from under us in March. We had October booked out with some great forward sales and we had to cancel all of them” founder David Doudle said.
“Worse still we had rebooked some of those with interstate visitors and we had to cancel them all over again because of the situation with the interstate borders.
“It is an incredibly tough time for our regions and the businesses that rely on forward planning.”
Mr Doudle said a busy July thanks to the school holiday period had helped.
“But we can’t run a business around school holidays. Let us do better than NT and Tasmania, trump them with our own $250-$300 voucher to promote more locals to visit.”
The NT government has introduced three staged rounds of Territory Tourism Vouchers worth $200 each since July 1, matching an equal spend by travellers, while since September 7, Tasmanians have been able to register to access ‘Make Yourself at Home’ travel vouchers of $100 per adult for accommodation and $50 towards an experience.
“We know it’s working for those two states; let’s trump that support and help people’s spending confidence while provided businesses like ours the confidence to keep employing staff,“ Mr Doudle said.
The business, which employs three full-time staff and another 5 casuals during peak season, said it is likely to take about three years to get back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
New figures show SA tourism made a $70m recovery in two months as more locals holidayed at home. Also, PM Scott Morrison has also announced a new grants program to boost the events industry.
Other local businesses, including KI ferry services operator SeaLink and accommodation parks owner Discovery Parks have recently called for temporary local incentives in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
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Discovery Parks owner G’Day Group’s chief executive Grant Wilckens said support was needed for communities affected by overseas travel postponements or cancellations.
“We need forward focused initiatives for stimulation rather than just survival if we hope to see our industry rebooted and regions recovering,” he has said.
The SA-headquartered national business is also likely to directly benefit from the schemes in NT and Tasmania where it owns multiple accommodation parks.
The SA tourism industry, which contributes $8bn to the local economy annually and employs 40,000 people.
A state government spokeswoman said the tourism sector is a critical driver of the economy said a “range of initiatives” were currently being considered.
“We are expecting to provide details in the near future,” she said.
Opposition’s Zoe Bettison said tourism operators needed support now more than ever.
“Every dollar spent in South Australia helps save a South Australian job. Let’s get this done because strong tourism equals more jobs,” Ms Bettison said.