From midnight tonight, we expect most Australian residents to remain glued to their screens waiting to elbow their way into securing widely coveted half-price domestic airline tickets.
Earlier this month, the federal government had announced that it would introduce a $1.2 billion stimulus package to revive the travel sector and encourage people to spend more on domestic holidays. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had estimated that close to 800,000 government-subsidised airline tickets would be on offer as part of the scheme.
The 50 per cent discount on domestic travel will be available on airline websites from 1 April onwards. The half-price domestic airfare program is scheduled to run until 31 July.
Qantas, Virgin and a few other regional carriers are said to be the main recipients of this package.
The government also specified that the half-price airfare would apply for flights to and from domestic regions that were most affected by international border closures. The destinations are:
- Queensland – Townsville, Cairns, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and the Whitsundays region
- Northern Territory – Darwin, The Lasseter region which includes Uluru and Alice Springs
- Tasmania – Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, Burnie
- Western Australia – Broome
- Victoria – Avalon
- New South Wales – Merimbula
- South Australia – Kangaroo island
“Our tourism businesses don’t want to rely on government support forever,” The Prime Minister said in a press conference. “They want their tourists back.”
Meanwhile, in Victoria, some 50,000 travel vouchers were taken up by Victorians in just over three minutes yesterday morning. The $10 million third round of the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme announced by the Victorian Government represents the largest release of the popular $200 vouchers.
Tourism businesses and hospitality workers across the state are expected to benefit from these vouchers. Unprecedented interest saw the allocation exhausted in record time, an official statement revealed.
More than 46,000 people were waiting to apply as applications opened at 10 am. The allocation was gone in three minutes and 35 seconds, with 82,000 people online at the peak. Victorians who secured vouchers today will be able to claim a rebate for travel between 6 April and 31 May.
We wish you happy holidays and safe (domestic) travels!
READ ALSO: How to get Dine and Discover vouchers, NSW
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