Hotel industry pushes for JobKeeper to be extended until March 2021

The federal government’s JobKeeper package is due to end on September 27, but the accommodation sector has made a plea for the initiative to be extended in that industry for an additional six months.

CEO of the Accommodation Association of Australia, Dean Long, says the industry has experienced a $3.6 billion in the last three months, and many businesses won’t survive if the package isn’t extended until March.

“About 85 per cent of revenue has disappeared overnight,” he told Tom Elliott.

“Without JobKeeper we would see an unemployment rate significantly higher than what it is, and an industry probably unable to recover for several years.”

Mr Long said while some areas will rebound quickly, others, which rely heavily on international tourism, will take longer to recover.

“We know we’re going to have some good weekend traffic coming through, we know some of the regional areas will recover far quicker than cities,” he said.

“For all of our major city hotels that employ thousands of people, over 40 per cent of their revenue is from international tourism.

“Without that international tourism, with a suppressed corporate market with people travelling for work … if we don’t extend it, we’re going to lose good people from the industry.”

Mr Long said accommodation industry representatives have approached federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s office with the proposal.

“We know that they’re open to doing industry specific packages now,” he said.

Press PLAY below for more.