ATEC promotes mass vaccination as Australian tourism industry’s solution

While regional lockdowns are affecting people in many, largely localised areas of the country, Australian tourism businesses nationwide are feeling the enormous financial impact of the recent round of border closures. With the Federal Government last week outlining a national COVID transmission plan, Peter Shelley (pictured), Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) managing director, said: “Without mass vaccinations, both domestic and internationally focused tourism businesses, worth more than AUD$150bn (USD$110.8bn) to our economy annually, will continue to be victims to stop-start border closures and localised Covid-19 outbreaks.” Tourism businesses in small towns, major cities and regional tourism centres have seen millions of dollars in bookings cancelled and their future bookings evaporate despite not being directly affected by the current lockdown restrictions. Shelley continued: “Lockdowns in major cities halt the travel and holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of people and this flows on to massive cancellations across the country as people are either unable to travel or they lose confidence in doing so.” “The only way we can have some certainty for our industry, is to support the vaccination roll out to help protect our community and reopen our economy.” Shelley concluded.