Accommodation sector responds to Budget
Government funding allocation "a welcome shot in the arm"
With domestic travel accelerating and international travellers returning, the Federal Government’s Budget announcement of $48 million over four years from 2022-23 to support recruitment and marketing in the tourism and travel sectors has been roundly applauded by industry leaders.
The funding includes a commitment to support the Accommodation Association’s ‘The Hub” platform which connects people to vacancies, fosters skills development and showcase Tourism as a career.
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Accommodation Association (AA) President, Leanne Harwood said the funding will go a long way in helping attract, educate and re-train the 100,000 staff needed right now including supporting more First Nations Australians, people living with a disability, and older Australians.
“This is a very welcome shot in the arm for one of the most important sectors driving Australia’s economic recovery, our Visitor Economy. We look forward to continuing to work with the Government as we rebuild together,” she said.
Tourism Accommodation Australia (TAA) CEO and acting AA CEO, Michael Johnson said the funding will go a long way to assist with upskilling existing talent, and attracting more people to return to the workforce and share their skills and knowledge.
“It will also allow us to spotlight the career paths that exist in our sector including to those who perhaps haven’t considered it before and help us rebuild,” he said.
Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA) Chief Executive, Stuart Lamont has welcomed the announcement of Caravan Park infrastructure Upgrade funding.
The announcement of targeted infrastructure investment for the nation’s caravan parks will see a huge boost for many park operators looking to build on the quality customer experiences already on offer across the country.
In the soon to be announced criteria for the Grant Program, caravan parks from around the country will be able to apply for funding to deliver shovel ready projects.
The heart of the program is to assist caravan parks to swiftly upgrade or create new infrastructure and visitor facilities to enhance visitor experience, including improvements to accessibility and environmental sustainability practices.
Mr Lamont said the targeted Federal infrastructure support package recognised the growing and critical value of caravanning to Australia’s tourism and visitor economy.
“Caravanning has long been Australian domestic tourism’s largest visitor and economic cohort, an almost $24 billion economic driver in tourism and local manufacturing activity,” Mr Lamont said.
“This well-targeted funding will go directly into our world leading caravan park product across the nation. We also believe it will extract private capital expenditure support up to three times over.
“For caravan parks to be incentivised to deliver more attractive visitor amenities and appealing product is just the ticket to supporting sustainable recovery and growth in Australian tourism.
“Caravan parks nationwide will keenly apply. The grants will develop new, appealing visitor product including cabins, recreation facilities and innovative features such as supporting accessible tourism.
“As the national peak body for caravanning we strongly welcome this Federal commitment, and we look forward to the release of the grant program and the application process in the coming days”.
Property Council of Australia (PCA) Chief Executive, Ken Morrison has welcomed the Federal Government’s budget commitment to create one million new ‘well-located’ homes under a new National Housing Accord, describing the agreement as demonstrating bold ambition and a welcome collaborative approach.
But, he said, it will require further action to deliver.
The new National Housing Accord aims to bring together Federal, state and territory governments, as well as the property industry and institutional investors, to boost housing supply and create more affordable and social housing.
“We commend the Government for making housing supply and affordability a centrepiece of this budget and for striking an agreement with the states and territories,” Mr Morrison said.
“Australia is facing a housing affordability crisis and as the Productivity Commission found last month, greater housing supply needs to be a key solution.
“The National Housing Accord is a very welcome commitment and we thank the Government for engaging with the PCA on this initiative.
“Achieving the Government’s target will require more tangible actions than have been announced tonight, and we look forward to working with the Government on practical steps to boost supply,” he said.
Mr Morrison also commended the Government for its commitment to review the barriers to institutional investment in housing, including Build-To-Rent housing, to be conducted by the soon-to-be-established Housing Supply and Affordability Council.
“If we are serious about providing greater housing choice and affordable options, it is important we have fair tax settings that encourage investment in all types of housing,” Mr Morrison said.
“Right now, current tax settings around Build-To-Rent housing are a barrier to investment, and a levelling of the playing field will bring more rental stock online, as noted by the Productivity Commission last month.
“Build-To-Rent housing offers renters greater security in their tenancy, superior facilities and services, and an additional form of housing which Australia sorely needs,” he said.
PCA has also welcomed the Government’s commitment to build 10,000 affordable homes and 20,000 social homes through the establishment of the Housing Australia Future Fund, as well as the additional 10,000 new affordable dwellings at the energy efficiency rating of 7 stars or greater (or a state’s minimum standard).
Welcoming the Federal Budget, Australian Trade Export Council (ATEC) Managing Director, Peter Shelley said his organisation was pleased to see the Government has retained its important pre-election commitments to the industry.
This, he said, included support for tourism sector recovery, up-skilling workers, helping get tourism businesses back into the marketplace, supporting quality tourism products and delivering infrastructure upgrades,” ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley said today.
“Along with funding for packages including workforce, capability and better industry research, the budget provides our main marketing force, Tourism Australia, with a top up of funds to help us in this vital period of transition,” Mr Shelley said.
“Funding for the Export Marketing Development Grants (EMDG) has been maintained while many other areas of the budget have been trimmed, recognising the importance this program plays in helping Australian tourism businesses access the international marketplace and we are pleased that Tourism Research Australia will have extra funding to help modernise their data collection for the industry.”
Mr Shelley said the industry faces a tough restart with inbound holiday visitation still lagging well behind numbers seen leading up to the 2020 border closures with monthly numbers around 300,000 fewer than 2019.
“While indications show our air capacity will start to return as we head into 2023 our industry’s challenge will be to ensure we are able to facilitate the smooth conversion of inquiries into bookings and we will need the strong support of government to help us address the imbalance between Australian holiday makers heading overseas and the slower take up of the inbound market,” he said.
“A commitment from governments, both state and federal, to support the rebuild of our industry will be a crucial factor in helping to recover our $45bn export tourism industry and get visitors back to our destination.
“As we move into 2023 and increasing visitor numbers, we are pleased to see Tourism Australia is back in the marketplace helping to sell Australia, and our industry is ready to work alongside them in putting Australia back on the most coveted destination list.”
Welcoming the Federal Budget, Australian Trade Export Council (ATEC) Managing Director, Peter Shelley said his organisation was pleased to see the Government has retained its important pre-election commitments to the industry.
This, he said, included support for tourism sector recovery, up-skilling workers, helping get tourism businesses back into the marketplace, supporting quality tourism products and delivering infrastructure upgrades,” ATEC Managing Director Peter Shelley said today.
“Along with funding for packages including workforce, capability and better industry research, the budget provides our main marketing force, Tourism Australia, with a top up of funds to help us in this vital period of transition,” Mr Shelley said.
“Funding for the Export Marketing Development Grants (EMDG) has been maintained while many other areas of the budget have been trimmed, recognising the importance this program plays in helping Australian tourism businesses access the international marketplace and we are pleased that Tourism Research Australia will have extra funding to help modernise their data collection for the industry.”
Mr Shelley said the industry faces a tough restart with inbound holiday visitation still lagging well behind numbers seen leading up to the 2020 border closures with monthly numbers around 300,000 fewer than 2019.
“While indications show our air capacity will start to return as we head into 2023 our industry’s challenge will be to ensure we are able to facilitate the smooth conversion of inquiries into bookings and we will need the strong support of government to help us address the imbalance between Australian holiday makers heading overseas and the slower take up of the inbound market,” he said.
“A commitment from governments, both state and federal, to support the rebuild of our industry will be a crucial factor in helping to recover our $45bn export tourism industry and get visitors back to our destination.
“As we move into 2023 and increasing visitor numbers, we are pleased to see Tourism Australia is back in the marketplace helping to sell Australia, and our industry is ready to work alongside them in putting Australia back on the most coveted destination list.”
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