Accommodation vouchers are being offered to boost tourism across South Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic but the state opposition says they’re too limited.
The Great State vouchers, which became available from Thursday, offer $ 100 off accommodation in Adelaide and $ 50 off in regional centres, provided travellers are staying at participating venues.
Premier Steven Marshall said the scheme would help get South Australians employed in the tourism and hospitality sectors back to work.
“The tourism sector, and accommodation providers in the CBD in particular, have been hit hard since COVID-19 hit and it’s vital that we all work together to boost this sector back up and most importantly, bring back the jobs that have been lost,” he said.
“We’ve seen the first green shoots of recovery over the past month, particularly with regional tourism.
“However, our CBD is still suffering and that’s why we’re urging South Australians to get back into the city.”
But Opposition Tourism Spokeswoman Zoe Bettison says only a small number of accommodation providers are involved.
She says the money on offer is also less than that provided by some other states and territories.
“We have a lot of tourism operators in South Australia fighting to survive,” she said.
“The South Australian government uses southaustralia.com as a booking referral website, and these vouchers only apply to three per cent of these listings.”
The vouchers can help pay for accommodation from now until December 11 but it must be booked by October 31.
The initiative comes as the Hilton Hotel in the CBD opened its doors this week for the first time since April and as other hotels reported increasing occupancy rates.
Australian Associated Press