Tourism Council WA has welcomed the State Government’s announcement today of a $14.4 million tourism funding package which will provide one-off grants to tourism businesses.
Tourism Council WA has been calling for cash flow assistance for tourism businesses which have fallen through the cracks of other Government assistance measures.
“The tourism industry has been among the hardest hit by COVID-19 restrictions, losing six months’ worth of bookings as people were encouraged to cancel their holiday plans. This resulted in a mass cash flow crisis across the industry,” Tourism Council WA CEO Evan Hall said.
“Many of these businesses were not eligible for any sort of Government assistance – for example, many tourism businesses were too small to access the State Government’s payroll tax grant of $17,500.”
Tourism Council WA has been advocating tirelessly to the State Government for help for these businesses to survive.
“We need tourism businesses to survive so that they can start operations and create local jobs when Western Australians begin travelling within the State once again,” Mr Hall said.
“Today’s announcement will be a lifeline for many tourism businesses across the State and mean the difference between shutting their doors and welcoming visitors once again.”
“We congratulate the State Government on this initiative.”
Tourism Council WA estimates the impact of travel restrictions has exceeded $3.1 billion and more than 30,000 jobs lost.
