Voucher Scheme needed to promote tourism accomodation - TAA
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Voucher Scheme needed to promote tourism accomodation - TAA
Tourism Accommodation NSW CEO Michael Johnson said a voucher scheme is needed to encourage NSW residents to “holiday in their own backyards”.
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TAA NSWTAA NSW Board
The state’s leading tourism accommodation body has renewed calls for the NSW Government to introduce a holiday voucher system to help kick-start the ailing tourism accommodation sector – especially in the Greater Sydney area.
Tourism Accommodation NSW CEO Michael Johnson said a voucher scheme to encourage NSW residents to “holiday in their own backyards” was key to encouraging visitation, with the scheme a key point of discussion at the recent TAA NSW board meeting.
“A holiday voucher scheme is the number one thing we need to get people out and about and experiencing what this great city has to offer,” Mr Johnson said.
“While regional areas like the Blue Mountains, Byron and Hunter are starting to experience larger tourist numbers – especially during the recent school holidays – the Sydney CBD and Greater Western Sydney tourism accommodation sectors remain crippled by the impact of the pandemic.
“Anything we can do to promote holidays in Sydney and Greater Sydney needs to be done as soon as possible, with room occupancy rates in these areas well under 20 percent for months now.”
Mr Johnson said he has spoken to NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres pushing for a voucher scheme.
“It has worked well in places like Tasmania and the Northern Territory, and has now been introduced in South Australia and it would work just as well in NSW,” he said.
“It’s often been said a ‘healthy Sydney is a healthy NSW’ and nowhere is this more true than in the tourism accommodation sector.”
Mr Johnson did welcome Destination NSW’s new “Love It Like You Mean It” campaign which aims to get the people of Greater Sydney to re-discover the city they loved pre-COVID.
“The campaign is a good start. It reminds people from all over NSW that we have one of the most beautiful cities in the world and it is full of world-class hotels with empty rooms.”
“There hasn’t been a better time to enjoy what we have without the usual crowds of international tourists.”
Other matters discussed at the TAA NSW board meeting – the first ever held in TAA’s new offices in Castlereagh St, Sydney - included the lack of detail about NYE fireworks, and the impact of the pandemic in Victoria is having on the NSW accommodation sector.
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