Victorians to get half-price flights to holiday hot spots in bid to kickstart interstate tourism

The Victorian government has hit out after Melbourne was excluded from the federal government’s half-price flights scheme.

Victorian tourism operators say the federal government’s half-price flights package will disadvantage the state, with the only flights to Victoria into Avalon.

Victorian Tourism Industry Council CEO, Felicia Mariani, said the $1.2 billion federal government package didn’t address the key issues facing the tourism sector and its survival.

The government is expecting to subsidise the cost of about 800,000 fares, with the money paid directly to airlines including Qantas, Virgin and Jetstar so that holiday-makers can easily book at discounted rates for travel between April 1 and July 31.

“The 800,000 half-price plane tickets to travel to 13 destinations will be a great boost for those destinations, sure, but it disadvantages everyone else – in particular places like Melbourne,” she said.

“This will cannibalise our tourism opportunities here in Victoria.”

While there are several outbound flights from Melbourne and Avalon airports, the only flights to Victoria are to Avalon from Gold Coast and Sydney.

Victorian Tourism Minister Martin Pakula said he would demand Melbourne be included in what was otherwise an “inequitable package” that had “profoundly disappointed” the state government.

‘Somewhere in the Canberra bubble there seems to be a misunderstanding of how Victorian tourism works, and a failure to understand that capital cities have felt the absence of international visitors every bit as much as the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast and the Whitsundays,” he said.

“It treats Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide as merely source markets for Queensland.”

Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Paul Guerra welcomed the support for tourism, but questioned the choice of destinations.

“Why does Tasmania get the first class treatment with three locations whereas Victoria and NSW are shoved at the back of the plane with only one location,” he said.

“As good as coming into Avalon is for things like Geelong and the Great Ocean Road, it doesn’t help to serve the CBD, it doesn’t help to serve the Mornington Peninsula, it doesn’t help to serve East Gippsland.”

The only half-price flights to Victoria are to Avalon from Gold Coast and Sydney. Picture: Alison Wynd

“We would like to see that improved to get vouchers to be able to come into Tullamarine as well.”

Ms Mariani said the package also failed to address the key issue of consumer confidence.

“People are reluctant to travel and risk being at the other side of a snap border closure,” she said.

“We need to address the issue of snap border closures once and for all, if we are to have any hope of encouraging Australians to confidently travel interstate.”

Meanwhile, Victorians will be able to buy half-price flights to 10 domestic holiday destinations in a bid to keep Australia’s tourism industry afloat while the overseas border remains closed.

Tickets will go on sale in coming weeks for discounted return airfares from Melbourne to Cairns, Gold Coast, Maroochydore, Alice Springs, Uluru, Devonport, Burnie, Launceston, Broome and Merimbula.

Meanwhile, about 40,000 travel vouchers to spend on Melbourne hospitality and accommodation businesses will be up for grabs on Friday morning.

Based on the popular regional travel voucher scheme, the $200 vouchers are part of a $10 million “circuit breaker support package” to deal with the effects of pandemic shutdowns.

They can be used in 26 council areas across metropolitan Melbourne, with holders needing to spend $400 or more on accommodation, attractions or experiences.

At least two nights must be spent in paid stays during an eight-week period between March 19 and May 16.

Tickets will go on sale in coming weeks for discounted return airfares from Melbourne to Uluru, among other destinations.

The long-awaited package, supporting businesses affected by the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ending in three weeks, also includes government-backed loans of up to $5m for struggling businesses and direct grants to airlines to keep 8600 staff in work before overseas flights are cleared for takeoff.

Scott Morrison said the half-price flights were the “ticket to recovery” for Australia’s $100bn domestic travel industry.

“This package will take more tourists to our hotels and cafes, taking tours and exploring our backyard,” the Prime Minister said.

“That means more jobs and investment for the tourism and aviation sectors as Australia heads towards winning our fight against COVID-19 and the restrictions that have hurt so many businesses.”

“Our tourism businesses don’t want to rely on government support forever. They want their tourists back.”

Tourism Minister Dan Tehan has called on people to “do their patriotic duty” and book a domestic holiday.

Tourism Minister Dan Tehan called on Australians to “do their patriotic duty” and book a domestic holiday.

More than 350,000 businesses still relying on JobKeeper will be eligible for the loan scheme, which provides finance that can be paid off over 10 years with a 24-month repayment holiday.

It is an expansion of an existing $40bn program that has only supported 35,000 loans so far worth $3 billion. Businesses will now be allowed to use the loans to refinance their existing borrowings with lower repayments and longer terms.

Several existing pandemic support programs are also being extended, including waivers of air services and security fees for airlines, international freight aid, one-off grants for travel agents, and cash for struggling zoos, aquariums and wildlife parks.

Josh Frydenberg said the measures would “keep planes in the air” and assist domestic tourism.

“We know there are sectors and regions across the country that are continuing to do it tough, which is why we will continue to support the economy with proportionate, timely, scalable and targeted assistance,” the Treasurer said.