Would you agree more support to tourism sector by the Government in all of year 2021?

[lovetravellingoz]

International borders are one thing, but at present interstate border restrictions are a very blunt control measure (cost $Billions, and minimise very few cases IF adequate control measures are in place) when all what is needed in 2021 to make domestic travel and tourism more viable is:

• Only restrict travel of cases, close contacts of cases, and their close contacts.
• Two ring method around any new case
• Daily testing of ALL in positions that are exposed to CV19 probables. IF this had of been done most of leakages would have created less cases as the transmission chains would have very little time to grow before detection
• Testing of international aircrew
• Well run quarantine (ie no casual staff, no mixing of the public in the same buildings etc)
• On going free symptomatic testing
• And eventually most people in Australia being vaccinated

These measures to achieve adequate CV19 control are cheap in comparison to the to the ongoing cost that comes from shutting borders at minimal cases. PLUS they would restrict very few people versus the current methods that negatively effect millions of Australians.

YES the occasional case could possibly jump a border, but with the above in place it would be dealt with swiftly. All businesses would benefit.

International tourism jobs very had to keep alive at present, BUT jobs in domestic tourism and travel including airlines would be a lot more viable without the regular travel restrictions and the FEAR of them. This is causing more damage that the actual CV19 cases at present in Australia.

And this would also benefit corporate Australia, sports, events, entertainment and people needing to travel for compassionate and medical reasons.

 

[luxury-lizard]

Many good ideas in this thread - I certainly agree with suggestions (e.g. @lovtravellingoz) which would keep state borders open - any extension of support for the tourism and airline industry should depend on this approach being adopted. Our state premiers must have missed the courses on diplomacy when they were studying political science (ha ha).

Now international borders cannot open until we figure out a way to get all Australians home when and if they wish to return - the federal government needs to take the lead on this. Lots of posters etc have made suggestions on how to achieve this safely - not sure if they are practical but . . . returnees being tested and vaccinated before departure is a start combined with home quarantine (which of course would need strict monitoring and steep fines for non-compliance). Then why not let anyone into the country if they are vaccinated and tested - once vaccination has demonstrated that any risk is sufficiently low then quarantine would not be required.

 

[oz_mark]

I expect that there will be some sort of targetted support. Having said that, I think the days of Jobkeeper are almost over, and they really need to move to something else. Somethng industry specific.
It should, in many cases, also come from that state governments - the federal government needs to get away from underwriting some of the current craziness. We certainly need to contain outbreaks, but the blunt instruments many are using should be put away,

 

[N860CR]

I expect that there will be some sort of targetted support. Having said that, I think the days of Jobkeeper are almost over, and they really need to move to something else. Somethng industry specific.
It should, in many cases, also come from that state governments - the federal government needs to get away from underwriting some of the current craziness. We certainly need to contain outbreaks, but the blunt instruments many are using should be put away,

Absolutely. Prior to the northern beaches non-event, Jetstar for one were forecasting to exceed 100% of March 2020 capacity in March 2021. That would have negated any need for specific industry support, however the states elected to destroy that. It’s their job now to pick up the pieces.

For what it’s worth, I don’t believe a single person from the Northern Beaches cluster ever became anything near critically sick, let alone deceased.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Air travel is dependent on all measures being taken, including complementay vaccination for high value travellers.

It's free for everyone in Australia, and I think in many - though not all - other countries.

 

[Ric]

Wonder why Aussies like to be overseas tourists rather than domestic tourists??

If only domestic tourism offers good value for money like overseas ....sigh!!

 

[jakeseven7]

Wonder why Aussies like to be overseas tourists rather than domestic tourists??

If only domestic tourism offers good value for money like overseas ....sigh!!

I struggle with the continual whinging about this... yes I’d agree with that if you are looking at peak school holiday travel.

But I’ve been travelling a lot for work (and family reunions) over the last few months and hotel prices have never been cheaper (almost sadly for the hospitality industry!). I’m getting incredible rates, comparable to some of my Asian hols.

But we have to stop these idiotic premiers playing open shut them with domestic borders to have any hope of giving the average Joe Blo confidence to travel domestically.

 

[esquire]

But I’ve been travelling a lot for work (and family reunions) over the last few months and hotel prices have never been cheaper (almost sadly for the hospitality industry!). I’m getting incredible rates, comparable to some of my Asian hols.

Partly true in some SA and Sydney but Brisbane (with many business hotels shut for quarantine) and many parts of regional NSW (try Newcastle!) definitely not ‘never been cheaper’ with many services/amenities reduced.

 

[jakeseven7]

Partly true in some SA and Sydney but Brisbane (with many business hotels shut for quarantine) and many parts of regional NSW (try Newcastle!) definitely not ‘never been cheaper’ with many services/amenities reduced.

Might be the properties you are looking at? We are booking anything 4 star and above and BNE prices are down at least 30/40%. We are actually saving money on our budgeted travel costs!

 

[luxury-lizard]

I agree with @jakeseven7 re the cost of domestic travel - you need to compare apples to apples. I've been travelling domestically this year (subject to borders opening then closing, repeatedly) - hotel prices have been very competitive. Services are somewhat reduced; e.g. no daily servicing - but even this is inconsistent but hey we're in the middle of a pandemic. Biggest issue for us is that so many restaurants are closed or only open 3 days per week - and the ones that are open are fully booked. Some tourist attractions (e.g tours) are running at very reduced frequency or not at all.

A bit OT - Mr LL have been travelling extensively for 12+ years (since retiring early) - both international and domestic - I keep a detailed spreadsheet of all costs for each trip and then calculate the average daily cost - and guess what - it's almost the same no matter where you go or what you do . . . (there are a couple of exceptions to this; eg. a trip to Antarctica) . . . (when comparing domestic to international I compare daily trip costs without airfares). The biggest factor is the length of trip - longer trips cost less per day. I do admit our style of travel is not cheap and cheerful - but more good value luxury but not over the top.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I struggle with the continual whinging about this... yes I’d agree with that if you are looking at peak school holiday travel.

But I’ve been travelling a lot for work (and family reunions) over the last few months and hotel prices have never been cheaper (almost sadly for the hospitality industry!). I’m getting incredible rates, comparable to some of my Asian hols.

But we have to stop these idiotic premiers playing open shut them with domestic borders to have any hope of giving the average Joe Blo confidence to travel domestically.

It's not just hotel accommodation though... it's the food and other activities that come as part of a family holiday. Go for a pub meal or RSL meal and you'd be looking at $80-100 for a family of four. A three day pass to the theme parks on the gold coast for a family of four, plus a snack and meal on one day (deal combo) is $675.

Places like Uluru are still sky high for accommodation, even budget!

 

[jakeseven7]

It's not just hotel accommodation though... it's the food and other activities that come as part of a family holiday. Go for a pub meal or RSL meal and you'd be looking at $80-100 for a family of four. A three day pass to the theme parks on the gold coast for a family of four, plus a snack and meal on one day (deal combo) is $675.

Places like Uluru are still sky high for accommodation, even budget!

If you are now complaining about the higher cost of food here then the case you need to make an argument for paying hospitality workers far less, variable wage costs are the number one cost driver of pricing in hospitality and margins in general are wafer thin.

And it is awful in Australia having such strict health and safety regulations on our food service industry and the supply chain that feeds them. Yes it drives input costs up but also makes Australia one of the safest places to eat in the world.

So when you enjoy your cheaper 'bargain' meals around the world, in APAC etc remember the staff are probably being paid a less subsistence wage to exist and the chance of being food poisoned is astronomically higher than here.

 

[jakeseven7]

I agree with @jakeseven7 re the cost of domestic travel

I think not many people are actually travelling on here at the moment.... pretty clear

I even got a killer discount at the MONA pavilions!

 

[kamchatsky]

Well, Jane from VA2 has her say on this:

Virgin’s dire JobKeeper warning

Virgin Australia says the end of JobKeeper in March could signal a mass shedding of workers if no further support is provided to the struggling aviation industry.

www.news.com.au

 

[jb747]

Places like Uluru are still sky high for accommodation, even budget!

Well, Uluru is literally in the middle of nowhere.

Well, Jane from VA2 has her say on this:

Virgin’s dire JobKeeper warning

Virgin Australia says the end of JobKeeper in March could signal a mass shedding of workers if no further support is provided to the struggling aviation industry.

www.news.com.au

I'd expect that the only reason there haven't already been mass (i.e. total) layoffs, is that the airlines can't actually afford the costs of doing so.

 

[dajop]

I struggle with the continual whinging about this... yes I’d agree with that if you are looking at peak school holiday travel.

I struggle with the continual whinging about not being able to holiday overseas (whilst I do get the valid complaints about not being able to visit relatives). With the rider that I've been fortunate enough to be able to come back to Australia and take a "holiday" there in amongst WFH (even though the only two planned holidays when there ... going interstate from Melbourne in July and a mere weekend in Sydney after exiting quarantine late December were both nixed ) I really appreciated what Victoria has to offer, even Melbourne, and OK whilst there's no good resorts, I'd say South Melbourne beach on a warm summers day, is generally nicer to swim in than Nusa Dua, Jimbaran or Kuta. The lack of rubbish washing up on shore has a certain appeal.

By contrast, many colleagues have been stuck here on this island city of Singapore for a year now. It is 728 sq km which is really just 100 sq km repeated 7 times over, which can be boring for a couple of months let alone a whole year. So some of them are truly suffering island fever. Despite that one always try to make the best of what one has ..

 

[kamchatsky]

I struggle with the continual whinging about not being able to holiday overseas (whilst I do get the valid complaints about not being able to visit relatives). With the rider that I've been fortunate enough to be able to come back to Australia and take a "holiday" there in amongst WFH (even though the only two planned holidays when there ... going interstate from Melbourne in July and a mere weekend in Sydney after exiting quarantine late December were both nixed ) I really appreciated what Victoria has to offer, even Melbourne, and OK whilst there's no good resorts, I'd say South Melbourne beach on a warm summers day, is generally nicer to swim in than Nusa Dua, Jimbaran or Kuta. The lack of rubbish washing up on shore has a certain appeal.

By contrast, many colleagues have been stuck here on this island city of Singapore for a year now. It is 728 sq km which is really just 100 sq km repeated 7 times over, which can be boring for a couple of months let alone a whole year. So some of them are truly suffering island fever. Despite that one always try to make the best of what one has ..

They can go to Sentosa Island?

 

[dajop]

They can go to Sentosa Island?

Many do yes. The place is often booked out on weekends. Making the best of what one has I guess. I'm no fan though. My preference is a little island by the name of Lazarus island, best beach, and no shops/eating places/facilities at all really which is very much the appeal of the place. Making the best of what one has.

 

[Hvr]

My preference is a little island by the name of Lazarus island

Sounds like Lazarus is rising.

 

[VPS]

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