Tourism bosses say more help needed to stave off disaster

Australia’s oldest bus company says the Federal Government’s half-price airfare deal put the future of the iconic company in doubt.

Flight Centre boss Graham Turner says the $1.2bn airline relief package will keep pressure on state governments to keep borders open but would do little to help travel agents and hoteliers.

“It’s quite a cunning move by the federal government in that the states will need to keep the borders open,” said Mr Turner, who was a strident critic of what he believed had been a heavy-handed approach to border closures.

Other tourism leaders on Thursday openly criticised the package, including bus company Greyhound, which said subsidising airline tickets could send them to the wall.

Mr Turner said that while the relief package, which would provide half-price air tickets to tourism regions, including the Gold Coast and the Northern Territory, would be good for the airlines, there was doubt whether travel agents, hotels and tour operators would benefit.

“If people are booking directly through an airline, there is no mechanism for funds to be shared with others in the sector,” Mr Turner said.

“It is a positive for the airlines as long as the borders stay open. People have been scared to travel, but that is starting to turn around with the reopening of state borders over the past six weeks.”

Flight Centre managing director Graham Turner.

Flight Centre had been forced to jettison 70 per cent of its staff since the start of the pandemic, but Mr Turner said he was confident the remaining workers cold be retained even when JobKeeper subsidies finish at the end of the month.

“We are happy we can keep those people on, but it will depend on how domestic tourism performs over the next year,” he said. Domestic travel makes up 35 per cent of its business.

Accor Pacific chief executive Simon McGrath said there was a need for more help for hotel operators in major cities, which were not included in the package.

“While we are appreciative of support from the government for the broader travel industry and leisure destinations, further measures of financial relief are vital to save Australia’s city properties,” Mr McGrath said.

“Many thousands of people and their families will be impacted if there is no targeted support for city accommodation providers.”

He said financial support for travel industry workers based in cities was vital, as they continued to be significantly impacted by the COVID crisis.

“We need incentives to drive people back into our cities to help them become their vibrant selves again.”

Greyhound, Australia’s oldest bus company, says the federal government may have signed the firm’s death warrant by subsidising airline tickets to tourism hot spots.

Greyhound Australia chief executive Alex de Waal said the decision to provide 800,000 half-price air tickets put the future of the 92-year-old company in doubt.

Cairns’ premier tourism attraction, Skyrail rainforest cableway.

“We are an iconic brand, just like Qantas, but we want to be given the same assistance as the airlines,” he said. “This policy is illogical, discriminatory and anti-competitive.”

Mr de Waal said price was the main competitive advantage tour buses had over airlines but that had been wiped out by the government’s decision to subsidise air tickets.

“Greyhound has survived COVID — bruised and battered — but we are taking another hit when JobKeeper ends at the end of the month,” Mr de Waal said. “But this is the biggest blow of all and it may not be survivable.’

Mr de Waal said six of the destinations where half-price airline tickets were being offered were Greyhound’s most popular routes, including Sydney-Gold Coast and Darwin-Broome.

Cairns-based CaPTA Group, which offers tour packages and attractions in Cairns and Port Douglas, said the assistance package wasn’t as much as the industry was expecting.

“The flight subsidies hopefully increase the domestic market during the May and June shoulder season, which is a beautiful time to be in Cairns but it doesn’t replace the international visitors in number,” CaPTA managing director Peter Woodward said.
“International visitors spend more as they go to the reef and visit rainforest and wildlife parks more than the domestic customers.”

He said the federal and Queensland governments acknowledged Cairns would be the deepest hit region from COVID-19 but neither had stepped up and given the extra support needed.

The Star Gold Coast chief operating officer Jess Mellor said the package would encourage Australians to reacquaint themselves with the Gold Coast over Easter and the months beyond. “The message to those in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Canberra who might normally head overseas mid-year or just want a getaway after the challenges of the past 12 months — you’re assured a warm welcome here on the Gold Coast.”