Rethink vital on jobkeeper for tourism

TOURISM operators across the Territory anticipate having to lay off staff when JobKeeper finishes at the end of the month

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TOURISM operators across the Territory anticipate having to lay off staff when JobKeeper finishes at the end of the month.

While tourism vouchers have helped provide a lifeline to many, those relying largely on international markets are still hurting.

In the Red Centre dozens of bus and tour operators are in that position.

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The owners of businesses like the Emu Run, Uluru Camel Tours and Wayoutback Safaris are all going be forced to make some tough decisions with cutbacks if JobKeeper ends on March 28.

The other challenge being felt by regional tourism across Northern Territory is that when vaccines are rolled out, and domestic borders are able to stay open, many businesses are extremely concerned they will not have the ready workforce to continue.

There are many quality tourism businesses that through no fault of their own need some form of continued support.

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While border closures, both domestic and international, continue to restrict their trade, these businesses and the people they support need to be in some way supported, at least until vaccines take effect.

Businesses have pivoted all they can and we need the critical tourism operators to survive so that when the time presents itself tourism will quickly rebound to be a significant export-orientated contributor to our economy.