SYDNEY – Almost one million Australians will be able to enjoy half-priced flights to domestic holiday destinations under a government plan announced today to boost tourism, as Covid-19 border closures keep international travellers out.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government will spend A$1.2 billion (RM3.8 billion) to subsidise 800,000 flights to areas outside major cities that were “heavily dependent on international tourists”.
Half-priced fares will be offered to entice Australians to book holidays at places like the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and the Gold Coast.
The country has been effectively sealed off from the rest of the world since shutting its borders last March in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and has yet to announce when it will reopen to overseas visitors.
International tourism was worth about A$45 billion a year to the Australian economy before the Covid-19 crisis.
A massive funding package subsidised millions of jobs over the past year, but will finish at the end of the month, raising concerns that thousands of people in worst-hit industries like tourism will be left out of work.
The discounted airfares will be available from next month, as the government looks to cushion the blow and put the onus on Australians to help support the sector.
Several lesser-known holiday spots typically more popular with locals than international tourists are among the 13 supported destinations.
The initiative has been welcomed by struggling airlines Qantas and Virgin Australia, but others in the travel industry, as well as workers’ unions, have complained that it does not go far enough.
Morrison has called the scheme “a bridge to a more normal way of life for Australians”, adding that tourism businesses “don’t want to rely on government support forever”. – AFP, March 11, 2021
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