It comes as federal MP Phillip Thompson calls on his government to reverse course and include the city “as a matter of priority”, while State MP Scott Stewart only says his government will “consider” extending a $200 travel voucher package to Cairns to Townsville.The city’s tourism sector has been shocked by announcements by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack offering to subsidise flights to certain towns and cities between April and July.MORE NEWS>>>• Reece Williams remembered one year on from death in crash at Alice River• Deputy Mayor Mark Molachino, Senator Murray Watt push for Lansdown funding• Terry Eade not happy with Townsville City Council’s cemetery grassThe destinations are the Gold Coast, Cairns, the Whitsundays region, the Sunshine Coast, the Lasseter region, which includes Uluru and Alice Springs, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie, Broome, Avalon, Merimbula and Kangaroo Island.City Oasis Inn owner Brendan Carter said the policy discriminated against Townsville businesses, as well as the city’s residents who might be unable to access the discounts, and risked cannibalising the market.Townsville already suffered because airfares were not discounted to the extent of other centres, he said. “Not only are the businesses being discriminated against but every resident in our region is being discriminated against,” Mr Carter said.“It’s actually going to cannibalise some of the business that might have been coming to us to go to other areas. It’s so ill-conceived.”Grand Hotel manager Troy Scott said all of the operators he had talked to in Townsville were perplexed.“It would have been nice if they had taken a blanket approach. It’s very disappointing,” Mr Scott said.Mr Thompson said data published by Tourism and Events Queensland showed domestic visitation to Townsville was down 45.6 per cent in the September quarter last year compared with the same period in 2019.“I know that Cairns and the Gold Coast and then the Whitsundays have been some of the greatest hit when it comes to the tourist sector, however, I believe Townsville has also copped it a bit too,” Mr Thompson said.Townsville Enterprise director Lisa Woolfe said they would ask whether the incentives could be extended.“What we absolutely don’t want this scheme to do is divert the visitors that would have come to Townsville into other areas,” Ms Woolfe said.She said tourism was worth 8000 jobs and $1.2 billion to the local economy.



Source link