SIX-DAY LOCKDOWN A MAJOR SETBACK FOR SA TOURISM INDUSTRY
South Australia's tourism industry faces yet another major setback in its recovery from COVID-19, with the State Government enforcing its toughest restrictions yet.
Shaun de Bruyn CEO of South Australia's peak tourism body, the Tourism Industry Council South Australia (TiCSA), said yesterday's announcement of a six-day state-wide lockdown is yet another blow for the industry.
"TiCSA supports the State Government's approach to act hard and fast, however, this is devastating news as many tourism businesses across the state were just starting to rebuild momentum following an extremely challenging year," he said.
"With peak tourism season just around the corner, we were also starting to see business confidence re-emerge for the first time in months.
"In our latest industry research for the September 2020 quarter, which measures business activity and outlook, almost 50 percent of respondents reported that they were feeling confident or extremely confident about their future business prospects.
"Unfortunately, within a matter of days many tourism businesses have lost most, if not all of their forward bookings.
"This health emergency will also have detrimental impacts on consumer confidence among interstate markets, which we expect will last for many months to come."
TiCSA is calling on the State Government to provide emergency funding support to the South Australian Tourism Commission to communicate immediately with interstate markets once the lockdown is over.
"Quick and effective messaging to our interstate markets will be absolutely critical to support business recovery and ensure South Australia's brand as a world-class tourism destination is not tarnished," said Mr de Bruyn.