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One third of Victoria’s tourism and events sector will slash jobs and 13% will close permanently if there is not ongoing support for the industry beyond the end of the Federal Government’s JobKeeper.

The forecast has been made by the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC), with its latest survey of more than 550 tourism operators showing just over half the state’s businesses were trading as normal before the third lockdown, with 42% still closed or operating with reduced hours.

VTIC’s State of the Industry survey showed that 88% of businesses had accessed some form of government support since Coronavirus restrictions were introduced almost 12 months ago.

The survey found that nine in 10 businesses had accessed JobKeeper (93%), while more than 57% were still reliant on the financial support to hold onto staff.

The Victorian Government’s Business Support Fund was also helping 45% of tourism businesses, while one in five businesses had accessed government hospitality grants. More than 20 per cent of tourism businesses received payroll tax relief.

More than 80% of the businesses said the uncertainty around border closures were devastating to their business while around 60% said events being cancelled across the state had also severely impacted their tourism businesses.

Commenting on the findings, VTIC Chief Executive, Felicia Mariani told Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun, “what is more concerning is that, over the next three months, nearly half of our operators are expecting business activity to weaken further.

“Overall business confidence is poor, with most respondents saying they are fairly or extremely concerned about the outlook for their operations.

“All of this points to the absolute need for a targeted package of support for the tourism and events industry, which will be vital to saving our sector and the 250,000 jobs we underpin in the state – including 110,000 jobs in our regional towns and centres.”

Mariani said the end of JobKeeper on 28th March would be “a flashpoint for our sector”, adding “it is critical that governments engage with industry right now to shape packages that will sustain the industry.”

Image credit Gumbaya World.

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