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'More than devastating': One in five tourism businesses could fail

Tom McIlroy and Fiona Carruthers

Jan 21, 2021 – 10.00pm

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As many as one in five businesses in Australia's $50 billion tourism industry could fail in 2021, with operators and advocates pushing the Morrison government to extend temporary wage assistance.

New modelling by the Tourism & Transport Forum shows nearly 32,000 businesses are at risk this year, amid coronavirus travel restrictions and Australia's ongoing international border shutdown.

Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent.

Fiona Carruthers has written and edited travel for the Financial Review for almost a decade. She has held senior roles with ABC Radio National, Deutsche Welle Radio, TIME and The Australian, and was deputy editor of Traveller.