Submissions

In the 2019 year, the visitor economy was one of the largest and fastest growing sectors in the world, contributing over ten per cent to the global economy and accounting for one in ten jobs. In Australia, the visitor economy was a $152 billion sector ($126 billion in overnight visitor expenditure in 2019), provided direct and indirect jobs to one in thirteen Australians, involved one-in-eight Australian businesses and is Australia’s number one services export. It plays an important role in the economic development of regional Australia, with 44 cents in every visitor dollar spent in regionsThis submission will explore the policy settings and investment that the Association and its members believe will be vital to ensure the resilience of the visitor economy post COVID, facilitating adaptation, innovation and transformation

The objective for managing COVID-19 in 2021 is to achieve a balance of positive health and economic outcomes. Governments have a duty to minimise both the direct virus health impacts, as well as the economic and social impacts of response measuresThis document is part one of a two-part series on ‘Reopening Australia’. Part 1 focuses on domestic reopening and living with COVID-19

The Accommodation Association makes this submission to the Standing Committee on Economy and Infrastructure’ Inquiry into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism and events. The impact of COVID-19 on the Victorian Tourism Accommodation Sector saw losses in room revenue alone, top $1.7 billion as of year ending February 2021 according to modelling conducted by AHS Advisory. COVID-19 is now the single largest peacetime economic contraction for our Sector which has resulted in significant job losses across the accommodation sector. While many other sectors have rebounded quickly, the modelling undertaken by AHS Advisory demonstrates that the path to recovery for the tourism accommodation sector will take at least four years.

The Accommodation Association supports the ACCI four stage plan for International Travel Reopening following table summarises the proposed plan to restart international travel in four stages. The plan overlays the three dimensions of risk: vaccinated or not, the country that the traveller is coming from or going to, and where Australia’s vaccination program is up to. All travel would include a suitable testing regime appropriate to the risk.

This submission outlines the critical skills shortages currently being faced by the tourism accommodation sector. The sector has been significantly impacted by the pandemic, losing 50% of its workforce at the commencement, with further reductions due to the prolonged nature of the pandemic. As we emerge from the pandemic with international borders closed, the industry is seeking to meet the fluctuations in demand, with employment a direct function of rooms sold. Housekeeping and chefs have been identified as two areas of critical shortage.

We write as the leaders of Australia’s tourism accommodation sector which has been devastated by COVID-19. As an industry prior to COVID-19 we directly contributed more than half of $47.5 billion tourism GDP and directly employed more than 113,000 Australians. While we have done everything, we can to limit the impact on our teams, our overall workforce has been reduced by close to half to 56,000 and further reduction may need to occur if JobKeeper and the Rental Mandatory Code of Conduct is not extended until March 2021

JobKeeper must be extended to at least March 2021 in order to keep jobs and businesses alive in Australia’s accommodation sector, a critical part of the Australian tourism industry

A joint submission from the CEOs of the Accommodation Association, the Australian Federation of Travel Agents, Cruise Lines International Association Australasia, the Restaurant and Catering Association, the Business Events Council of Australia and the Tourism & Transport Forum.Our industries have collectively experienced the economic double impact of bushfires and now the far greater impact of Covid19. Our sectors are beyond pain, we are facing extinction. Current economic modelling shows that over the course of 2020 we will likely see over 300,000 job losses in tourism, or almost half the sector.For example, within the accommodation sector, hotels are facing occupancies of 10% or less across the country and will have no other recourse but to close their doors. And in the business events sector, every event from February 2020 through to November 2020 has been cancelled and revenues are already at zero. The harsh reality is that there is no longer any demand and therefore no work for most of our industry

The devastated Australian tourism industry is now facing massive job losses and a very bleak future without significant government support to retain as many workers as possible. The sector's peak bodies have today called on the Federal Government to urgently introduce a raft of measures to urgently assist the failing visitor economy industries which are reeling from the combined impacts of the bushfires and the Covid19 pandemic

With the tourism industry going through a period of unprecedented crisis, the tourism accommodation sector is currently preparing short and long-term contingency measures and undertaking scenario planning in an effort to sustain business operations. During this period the government has a role to play, both in reducing immediate regulatory burdens to support growth and working with industry to both sustain growth and ensure resilience post the crisis