In a recent announcement from the Australian Prime Minister, Scott Morrison the government is funding a program of half price domestic flights in Australia to aid the crippled tourism industry which has been hit very hard by the COVID19 pandemic.
In the past, Australia has been heavily dependent on tourism as a source of export revenue. Hotels, airlines, tour operators, taxi drivers and all other types of tourism industry stakeholders have been one of the hardest hit groups over the past year with both the 2020 bushfire crisis and the COVID19 pandemic making 2020 the year from hell for the tourism industry.
Although the Job Keeper and Jobmaker programs will most likely benefit the tourism industry, the Job Keeper Social Assistance program will end in April which will mean that tourism industry will still face enormous barriers to rebuilding in the wake of multiple crises. International borders will not fully reopen for at least another 6 months and travellers will most likely not be willing to travel internationally until the health status of international destinations can be guaranteed.
All of this means that the government’s announcement that half price flights will come into effect is most welcome for the tourism industry.