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Contributing well over $2 billion annually to the national economy and one of the biggest employers in regional Australia, the ski industry is facing unprecedented challenges during the current Coronavirus crisis.

With Melbourne in lockdown, ski lifts closed at two of the major Victorian resorts and others in NSW and Victoria running on restricted numbers due to COVID-19, Australia’s snow industry is in crisis.

Snowsports Industries of Australia President, Edward Fortey advises “it desperately needs assistance.

“The retailers, ski hires, bars, restaurants, lodges and other businesses employ mainly seasonal and local workers. Few if any of them are qualifying for JobKeeper or other assistance (and) many businesses (now) have zero turnover.”

Speaking to Snow Action, Fortey places the ski industry with international tourism and hospitality as being among the most affected areas of the economy, noting that without ongoing relief a lot of long term businesses will be lost.

Advising that JobKeeper has helped, Fortey sees that more needs to be done to avoid “zombie” businesses, adding “most of these are small businesses and many of them family-owned.

“In the regions, bushfires this year decimated the summer business in NSW and Victoria, leaving operators waiting for winter to make up ground. But that isn’t how it’s turning out.”

The snow industry’s contribution to regional Australia sees it provide the equivalent of more than 20,000 full-time jobs.

Image: A lone skier on the skilift at Victoria's Mt Buller.

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