Coronavirus: $500m loan fund to keep tourism afloat

Tourism, export and education businesses facing a $9bn-a-month COVID-19 hole will be given access to a $500m loans fund.

The guests aren’t there to amuse the animals: wildlife keeper Chloe Schafer at the Cairns Zoom and & Wildlife Dome. Picture: Brian Cassey

Tourism, export and education businesses, facing a $9bn-a-month COVID-19 hole in domestic and international visitor trade, will be given access to a $500m loans fund, a lifeline to hundreds of employers.

The new COVID-19 export capital facility, administered by Export Finance Australia, will provide loans of between $250,000 and $50m to help businesses unable to gain finance from banks to stay afloat during the pandemic.

The financing mechanism will target strategic businesses that have taken major hits, with growing concerns over tourism-based economies including North Queensland and the Gold Coast.

As businesses confront the reality of international border restrictions being in place for the rest of the year, Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the loans would help tourism and export operators “get to the other side”.

“These are tough times for many trade-exposed businesses who have been some of the hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis,” Senator Birmingham said.

“Rising export costs, disruptions to supply chains and loss of markets are some of the factors that are making it difficult for exporters to access vital commercial finance.

“We are in a difficult credit environment and these loans will provide a lifeline to Australian exporters to help them maintain their operations.”

Tourism Tropical North Queensland chair Wendy Morris said the industry had been decimated by the pandemic and described it as a double-blow after tourism numbers plummeted after the bushfires. “The coronavirus has had a really traumatic effect on the region up here,” she said.

“The tourism industry employs one in five in northern Queensland and is a huge part of the economy, so it’s had a major influence on all people, from retailers and reef operators to our hoteliers. Our whole community is very involved.”

Ms Morris welcomed the new loans, which she said would be a huge help to businesses that met the criteria.

“We need to ensure these fabulous and iconic businesses, who have been very much a driver of Australian tourism for years, do more than just survive,” she said. “But also have the resources for that staged re-entry as we emerge into that post-COVID landscape.”

Ms Morris said the JobKeeper payment had also enabled most operators to keep core staff, including highly trained animal keepers working in wildlife parks.

Senior wildlife keeper Chloe Schafer, who has worked at the Cairns Zoom & Wildlife Dome atop Cairns Casino since 2013, has been checking the animals to make sure they were happy and well-fed.

“The biggest thing has been keeping the animals stimulated because the guests aren’t there to amuse them,” Ms Schafer said. “They’re definitely missing the guests and the parrots are clearly missing the attention.”

Senator Birmingham said the “critical financial assistance” would help exporters re-establish markets and provide “working capital support or help exporters purchase new equipment to expand operations”. In addition to the COVID-19 export capital facility, Export Finance Australia will provide assistance to existing customers through access to credit and financial relief.