20 July 2020- Australia’s hotels, motels and accommodation providers have stepped up their plea for government to extend JobKeeper, the Rental Mandatory Code of Conduct and banking relief measures until March 2021 with a series of full page ads.
The open letter to the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers published in today’s Sydney Morning Herald and The Age is:
We write as the leaders of Australia’s Tourism accommodation sector which has been devastated by COVID-19. To secure the future of our industry it is essential that JobKeeper, the Rental Mandatory Code of Conduct and the banking relief measures are extended until March 2021.
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.
Our Sector is a central pillar of the Australian Tourism industry and was exceptionally strong before COVID-19. While we have already done everything we can to limit the impact on our teams, our workforce has already halved. Further reductions will occur if JobKeeper, the Rental Mandatory Code of Conduct, and bank relief measures are not extended to March 2021.
Since the beginning of March 2020, our income has decreased by more than 75%. Even if the flattening-the-curve strategy is successful and we have open borders, our expected recovery in March 2021 will only be 50% of pre COVID-19 income.
Given the impacts of on-going border and gathering restrictions, we also call on our Premiers and State Governments to continue the Rental and Leasing Mandatory Code of Conduct and the banking relief measures. These two measures work in hand glove to support employment and keep doors open. Tenants and landlords are of course interdependent – the absence of viable tenants has significant knock-on ramifications for landlords as well as local and wider economies.
Our peak body, the Accommodation Association, forecasts that our industry will be in a position to support our current workforce from March 2021. This is when we believe the domestic corporate and leisure travel will have stabilised, however we need the Government’s support to get us there.
These measures will support an industry which has been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and will ensure our sector can rebound in 2021 and beyond.
The letter is signed by 27 of Australia’s leading accommodation providers.
The Accommodation Association
The Accommodation Association represents over 80% of all known accommodation providers from small regional parks, caravan parks, serviced apartments and resorts through to the largest hotel groups in the world including Accor, Hilton, Wyndam Destinations and IHG.
(https://www.aaoa.com.au/About-Us/The-Association)