The ACT Government last week announced a series of funding initiatives to help support the Canberra tourism industry through Australia’s most recent bout of COVID lockdowns.
Border closures to Canberra and the Greater Sydney lockdown have had a devastating impact on local tourism-related businesses, including hotels, attractions and tourism operators.
As a result, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said support of up to $75,000 would be provided to individual accommodation providers and $15,000 for small private tourism operators.
Around 90 accommodation providers and up to 20 privately operated tourism venues will be able to apply for a full rebate on the water and sewerage fixed charge component of their Icon Water bills for the first two quarters of 2021-22, providing financial support of up to $75,000.
Small tourism operators and boutique accommodation providers will be contacted to apply for the Small Tourism Operator COVID Recovery Payment.
This payment of up to $15,000 will assist with a range of business expenses. Eligibility will require evidence of a 30 per cent loss of revenue in July 2021 compared to April 2021 and of expenses incurred.
Vehicle registration fee waivers for hire cars and charter buses registered in the ACT will be extended for another six months until 30 March 2022.
The current registration waiver supports approximately 40 local operators.
Support ‘welcomed’ but flawed
Chair of the ACT Small Tour Operators Collective and owner of Canberra Secrets specialised tours, Marg Wade, told Canberra Daily the collective was grateful for the announcement.
The Collective believe the extension of the waiver of vehicle registration costs is helpful, but the eligibility criteria for the small tourism operator payment ruled out a number of local businesses.
Some small tour operators are microbusinesses not registered for GST and often work out of home offices and thereby cannot keep receipts for rent and rate payments – both eligibility requirements to receive the recovery payment.
“For someone who does walking tours for examples, those sorts of overheads are not necessary,” Ms Wade said.
For those microbusinesses, the Collective believe direct cash support would be ideal.
“What small operators would like is cash support so that we’ve got something in reserve so we can pay our bills,” she said.
Local tourism operators have been “suffering terribly” since the bushfires and hailstorm of summer 2019-20, with that compounded by the end of JobKeeper in March and subsequent travel restrictions over winter.
According to Ms Wade, this most recent downturn “may very well be the last straw” for many of Canberra’s smaller tourism operators, with some losing up to 100 per cent of their business.
“I don’t want to appear ungrateful for what the ACT Government has put on the table,” she said, “it’s just been such a harrowing time for tour operators.”
Ms Wade said the current situation will be “exceedingly detrimental for Canberra” going forward, given it may require operators to shut up shop.
“This is impacted by the fact that operators have been at a loss the whole way through,” she said.
“When we get through this and visitors come to Canberra, the tour offerings may be virtually nothing and so visitors will go away with a poor impression of our beautiful city.”
The Australian Hotels Association ACT Branch (AHA ACT) welcomed the ACT Government’s financial support for accommodation hotels.
AHA ACT general manager Anthony Brierley said the local hotel sector is enduring financial pain equivalent to what was experienced during the first lockdown in April 2020.
The accommodation sector in the ACT is currently losing $1 million a day, with over 7,000 hotel rooms across town sitting empty due to the restrictions on travel from Greater Sydney and the Victorian border closure.
Most casual employees have lost their shifts, and total payroll has declined by two-thirds.
“We thank the ACT Government for recognising how dire the current situation is, and stepping in to help,” Mr Brierley said.
“Now that the ACT Government has acted, our sector needs the Commonwealth Government to support us in the same way it is supporting regional NSW.”
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