Alert the group chat because the government is slinging half-price flights to Australia’s top tourism destinations in an attempt to boost the economy. So TL;DR: flights are on ScoMo’s dime, baby.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to announce a $1.2 billion dollar tourism support package on Thursday, which will aim to deliver “a rush of nearly 800,000 tourists to regions hit hard by border closures.”
“This is our ticket to recovery – 800,000 half-price airfares to get Australians travelling and supporting tourism operators, businesses, travel agents and airlines who continue to do it tough through COVID-19, while our international borders remain closed,” Morrison said.
As part of the plan, Aussies will cop a 50% discount on their flights to and from a number of Australia’s most popular tourist destinations between April 1 and July 31.
Essentially, by halving the cost of your flights, the idea is that tourists will spend more money on accommodation, food and activities during their stay, thus pumping much-needed funds into tourism-dependent areas of Australia.
“This package will take more tourists to our hotels and cafes, taking tours and exploring our backyard. That means more jobs and investment for the tourism and aviation sectors as Australia heads towards winning our fight against COVID-19 and the restrictions that have hurt so many businesses,” Morrison explained.
The government has made it clear that demand will be the determining factor in how many flights are available, but experts are expecting about 46,000/week, totalling 800,000 flights all up.
- Gold Coast
- Cairns
- Whitsundays
- Mackay
- Sunshine Coast
- Lasseter
- Alice Springs
- Launceston
- Devonport
- Burnie
- Broome
- Avalon
- Merimbula
- Kangaroo Island
The package comes as the JobKeeper lifeline, which has quite literally been the only thing keeping tourism workers in jobs for the last year, is cancelled at the end of this month.
There’s no word yet on exactly how to claim your half-priced flights but we’ll be sure to update you when more information is available.
