Tourism operators call on financial assistance to help ‘decimated’ industry

They are among the heaviest hit sectors in the pandemic era but these South Australian workers say the will to help them appears to have vanished.

An Adelaide father who lost his job in the tourism industry at the start of the pandemic says he submitted over 150 applications before he found new employment.

Darren Chigwidden had just celebrated the birth of his second child Koa in April, 2020, when the company that he worked for, Cruise and Maritime Voyages, went into administration weeks later.

“It was a challenging time for sure, my wife was on maternity leave, so we essentially went from two incomes to none, with two young children to support, he said. “We had savings, but they weren’t unlimited.”

Darren Chigwidden with son Koa, wife Victoria and daughter Finlay. Picture: Russell Millard

Accessing support from the government also proved difficult.

“I was spending more time communicating with Centrelink than I was looking for a job, so it just wasn’t worth my time,” said Mr Chigwidden from his home at Glenelg North

“I applied for, in excess of 150 jobs, even at places like Bunnings, but I was never hired because I was considered over-qualified.”

Mr Chigwidden eventually found employment in October last year, but only a month later, his wife Victoria was made redundant from her position at Royal Caribbean Cruises.

“She was made redundant before I received my first pay cheque,” he said.

“It really took its toll on her, particularly after seeing how hard it was for me to find a job in any field, let alone the travel industry.”

A small group of travel agents protesting outside the office of South Australian Senator Simon Birmingham on Tuesday. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Mr Chigwidden has called on the government to stand-up and support tourism operators.

“It is the forgotten industry. For cruise-line operators, they have had a bad rap ever since the Ruby Princess incident, which ended up being a NSW Health issue.

“No one will even sit down to listen to robust plans to get cruise liners back operating in a Covid environment – and so 20,000 jobs remain lost.”

Travel agents and tourism operators from across South Australia came together at Minister for Finance, Senator Simon Birmingham’s office on Tuesday, demanding assistance for the devastated sector.

Dennis Bunnik, joint-ceo Bunnik Tours with a small group of travel agents protesting outside the office of South Australian Senator Simon Birmingham. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Dennis Bunnik, from Bunnik tours, said governments had “lost the appetite” to support an industry that was contributing over $12bn to the economy annually before the pandemic.

Almost two years into the pandemic and he said the industry had been “decimated” due to border restrictions.

“Overnight, what we do, helping people explore the world safely, was made illegal by the government,” he said.

Mr Birmingham said the federal government had provided $300b in economic support through the pandemic for business and individuals.

“It included a $1.2b tourism and aviation package following the end of JobKeeper,” he said.