THE CARAVAN INDUSTRY Association of Australia has welcomed the announcement today from the Federal Government of a $250 million regional Australia package with $150 million specifically for tourism and infrastructure projects to assist regional tourism.

Caravan Industry Association of Australia CEO Stuart Lamont said the caravan and camping industry was much loved by Australians, and with the desire for tourists to "control their own environment" the industry was "poised to help in the immediate recovery of regional tourism as caravanners and campers travel further and for longer as Australians look to explore our own backyard". 

Visitor expenditure by caravanning and camping tourists already contribute over $10 billion annually with a significant amount of this dispersed across regional and rural Australia, supporting local jobs and contractors.

Mr Lamont said, "We have a real opportunity for Australians to rediscover the attractions and experiences which are plentiful in regional Australia, but which are under real threat without government support.

“The tourism industry has been savaged through a winter of COVID off the back of a summer of bushfires.  While we have seen recent green shoots in concentrated regions, many tourism industry businesses (and those businesses which rely on tourism) continue to be on their knees.  We are in a feast or famine situation at present with some of our most significant tourism regions hardest hit with the challenges of 2020.

“With many of Australia’s tourism icons located in the regions, and international travel off the cards for some time yet, today’s announcement is a significant boost for domestic tourism, while encourages the development of important tourism infrastructure which will underpin the industry when normal travel returns.” 

On World Tourism Day, Mr Lamont said this announcement supported the theme Tourism and Regional Development and is consistent with the Caravan Industry Association of Australia’s calls for shovel-ready tourism projects to be supported in regional Australia. 

"These projects will not only introduce or upgrade important long-term assets but will encourage the use of local contractors, local accommodation, and the use of local services during construction," Mr Lamont said. "With caravan and camping in 2019 being the number one commercial accommodation provider in regional Australia, today’s announcement provides some level of optimism for operators still reeling from huge losses from touring markets.

“Caravan parks, for several years, have been developing the accommodation experiences available which has brought new markets on board and led to record numbers in 2019.  This announcement from the government will help businesses return faster to the lofty heights set in 2019,” Mr Lamont said.  

“Tourism is such an important social and financial contributor to regional and rural communities, and it will be important to make sure funding from today’s announcement is equitably spread and provided for immediately to get this money flowing through the system.    

"Caravan Industry Association of Australia looks forward to engaging with the Federal Government regarding the eligibility and appropriation of this important initiative."

www.caravanindustry.com.au

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell said an overhaul of lending laws proposed by the Federal Government would offer a necessary funding injection to the small business sector.

Under the plan announced today by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, lending laws will be changed to lift onerous barriers to small businesses applying for loans.

“Access to finance is critical to small business survival, particularly as support measures are tapered over the coming months,” Ms Carnell said.

“The reforms outlined today would give small businesses the confidence they need to seek funding to get through this crisis, so they can grow and employ. Since the Banking Royal Commission, small businesses have faced an uphill battle to secure a loan, due to unrealistic serviceability requirements from the banks.

“The pendulum has swung too far and now is the time to correct this imbalance which is harmful to small businesses.    

“Even in the best of times, many small businesses struggle to secure finance, with a recent Sensis report revealing that of the dwindling number of small businesses that applied for a loan in the three months to August, about one in four had been knocked back. There’s a good chance the onerous small business loan application and bank assessment process is partly to blame.

“We are aware of small businesses that have been asked for all sorts of documentation by the banks - even for loans that have been 50 percent guaranteed by the federal government – including director guarantees, which really means the family home. It’s no wonder small business owners are reluctant to borrow.

“Importantly the banks will still be accountable to ASIC and the Government has pledged greater protections for vulnerable borrowers. ASIC will also have the power to impose penalties for prohibited or excessive fees and interest charges," Ms Carnell said.

“Small business borrowers should always ensure their lender is an AFCA member and to go their trusted accredited financial adviser before taking out a loan.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) has welcomed the Federal Government's announcement of additional funding for the tourism industry but remains concerned by a lack of specific funding to support the businesses which deliver international visitors to Australia.

The government package will bring some desperately needed support to major, mostly internationally focused, tourism businesses across regional Australia but support is still needed to ensure the inbound tour operators (ITOs) who supply international visitors to these areas survive.

“ITOs are essential to the export tourism supply chain and are a vital part of the fabric of our connection to the global tourism marketplace,” ATEC managing director Peter Shelley said. 

“Without ITOs many of these regional tourism businesses would have never had the level of international visitation that has helped them to build their product and if ITO businesses disappear, the long term viability of these regional tourism businesses is questionable too.

“Right now support to enable tourism businesses to better connect with domestic visitors will be very welcome but their previous success was built on having a mix of international and domestic visitors with international visitors making a stronger contribution to the bottom line – they simply stay longer and spend more.

“Australians just don't travel the same way or spend on the same things as international visitors and in the long run these businesses will need to turn back to their international market for survival and they will typically do this in partnership with inbound tour operators, their international distribution partners.

“The export tourism industry has a complex supply chain which relies on business relationships which have been forged over decades and ITO businesses have been the platform on which Australia has grown its annual tourism export earnings to over $45bn annually," Mr Shelley said.

“We know many of our regional tourism supplier members will be very happy to see this funding, but there remains many gaps in the solution and many tourism businesses will still be looking for help.  Businesses in metropolitan areas which have seen their business grind to a halt, ITOs which have had no income since February and those businesses which fall outside of the funding guidelines. Twelve months ago they were all viable and today they face extinction through no fault of their own.”

Mr Shelley said the funding will be welcome in the short term but will be quickly exhausted given the extent of need within the industry.  ATEC has been calling on the Federal Government to establish a long term, well-funded strategically focused tourism resilience fund which will provide layers of support to assist recovery and restart of our industry over the next three years.

"Earlier this year we saw the government announce a sizeable $1bn fund for tourism as part of its initial COVID stimulus package, funding which was quickly allocated to supporting large infrastructure like regional airports.

“While we recognise the importance of these priorities, many tourism businesses are struggling to survive and many have completely shut down their operations, exasperated by the uncertainty of state border closures. Over the past decade Australia’s export tourism industry has delivered more than $350bn in export earnings to our economy and this success has supported one in 12 jobs and has been the lifeblood of many regional communities," Mr Shelley said.

“Recognising the importance of international visitors to the future of regional tourism operators ATEC continues to urge the government to directly address the survival of the ITO sector and look to provide support in the upcoming Federal Budget.”

www.atec.net.au

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THE Federal Government has given the rebuilding of the economy a big boost by removing overly restrictive lending requirements for finance lenders, including mortgage finance, according to Master Builders Australia.

Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said, “We commend the Federal Government for winding back regulation to a more reasonable position that allows the market more flexibility to approve housing finance. We hope this means that banks will reconsider their loan to value ratios (LVRs) to help people overcome the deposit gap.

“We expect that loan applications for borrowers should also become less cumbersome.

“The Reserve Bank has already flagged that the tighter regulatory provisions have been holding back credit growth and some banks have acknowledged that they have been forced into being overly conservative,” Ms Wawn said. 

“It is good to see the Federal Government is giving banks flexibility to deal with applications on a case by case basis which should result in lenders providing mortgage finance to more people.

“It should help streamline the processing of HomeBuilder applications on top of pre-approval processes which have been adopted in some states. All states and territories should adopt these pre-approval processes,” Ms Wawn said. 

“Access to finance, land titling and planning approvals can substantially delay building of new homes and measures are needed to remove these impediments and speed up processing of HomeBuilder applications.

“While today’s announcement should open up access to mortgage finance, we now need state and territory governments to activate their option under the agreement with the Federal Government to extend the HomeBuilder construction deadline from three to six months, as has already occurred in Victoria. 

“This will ensure that the economic stimulus provided by HomeBuilder can be maximised to save more tradie jobs, and give more people access to the opportunity HomeBuilder provides,” Ms Wawn said.

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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