The head of Tourism Accommodation Australia wants to see the New South Wales government extend two of its key voucher schemes for the Sydney CBD, where hotels are still waiting for international tourists to return to pre-pandemic levels.
The body’s chief executive, Michael Johnson, said the Stay NSW and Parents NSW vouchers had provided a much-needed boost to the sector. While they were no longer needed to help most regions, the city could still benefit from the help.
“We’re still about 20% down on trading occupancies pre-pandemic for Sydney,” Johnson said.
“That’s predominantly because the international market is still yet to return to normal trading levels. Sydney could still use a bit of help in the CBD.”
While international bookings were starting to pick up, Johnson said he did not expect international tourism to fully return for at least another year and wanted the schemes to be extended until the end of January for exclusive use in the city.
The schemes were introduced to boost spending in the economy in the wake of the pandemic and the vouchers will expire on 9 October.
The Stay NSW vouchers are one-off $50 vouchers to use towards the cost of accommodation bookings.
The Parents NSW vouchers were launched “to reward and thank eligible NSW households for their efforts to support learning from home”, and included five $50 vouchers per household for use on arts, tourism and recreational activities, as well as accommodation.
“The vouchers provide a welcome boost to household budgets as well as much-needed stimulus for local businesses, with the average spend above $100 when a $50 voucher is redeemed for both programs,” a Service NSW spokesperson said.
Almost $300m was injected into the economy as a result of the schemes, according to Service NSW.
More than 3m Parents NSW vouchers had been issued, with almost 2m redeemed so far. More than $60m worth of vouchers from the scheme remained unspent as of Tuesday night.
The average customer spend per $50 voucher used in the scheme was $106.
Johnson said the scheme had been a boon for accommodation venues with five vouchers being able to be used at once.
“But now that we’re seeing some of those Parents vouchers being used [up], the Stay vouchers are now picking up a bit more momentum,” he said.
“We certainly see this next two weeks as a heavy redemption period.”
Of the 2.1m Stay NSW vouchers issued, just 685,000 had been used by Tuesday night. More than $73m worth of vouchers were unused with less than a fortnight to go before the scheme ends.
The Accommodation Association’s chief executive, Richard Munro, encouraged families to get out during the school holidays and make the most of the vouchers before they run out.
“The school holidays are the perfect time for a family getaway, from hotels to caravan parks and cabins,” he said.
“Stay NSW vouchers can be pooled, so parents can share the cost of a getaway with friends or family for even better value.”
Munro said the vouchers had helped support the wider tourism industry and kept people in jobs.
