The federal government unveiled a $1.2 billion tourism package this morning as part of its bid to drive economic recovery in pandemic-hit industries and regions.

The JobKeeper wage subsidy will be cancelled on 28 March and it is hoped that the new initiatives will help keep industries afloat.

Headline measures include bigger loans to JobKeeper-reliant small businesses, including a two-year repayment holiday, as well as direct assistance to help Qantas and Virgin keep workers employed and planes ready to fly overseas again.

The measures will see taxpayers subsidising flights to and from destinations such as the Gold Coast, Cairns, Alice Springs and Launceston as closed international borders and state borders have wreaked havoc with Australia’s tourism industry.

The government stresses demand will drive the number of tickets and will subsidise about 46,000 airfares a week, to a total of 800,000.

The plan is also designed to support accommodation and hospitality businesses in the hardest-hit regions when the JobKeeper subsidy runs out at the end of this month.

Victoria’s complaints

Acting Premier James Merlino says Victoria has received a raw deal as part of the federal government’s scheme to slash airfares to regional tourism destinations.The scheme will halve the cost to 13 destinations in Australia with passengers becoming eligible to recieve a 50 per cent discount from 1 April to 31 July – including Easter and winter holidays.

Unfortunately, Avalon airport – the gateway to the Great Ocean Road and Bellarine Peninsula – was the only Victorian location included. There was also nothing for interstate travellers who want to visit Melbourne, Gippsland, Ballarat, the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Murray or high country regions.

Mr Merlino told reporters that the state-by-state breakdown was not fair.

“The numbers speak for themselves,” said Mr Merlino, while standing in for Daniel Andrews as he recovers in hospital with spinal and rib injuries.

“Five in Queensland, three in Tassie, two in the Northern Territory, just one in Victoria.”

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State tourism

Victorians are being encouraged to head to hotels, restaurants, pubs, cafes and entertainment venues with the third release of the $200 travel voucher scheme on Friday, the latest round of vouchers geared towards bolstering the state’s ailing hospitality sector.

In the first round of the regional travel voucher scheme, the website crashed leaving tens of thousands of people disappointed. In January, keen travellers snapped up 40,000 regional travel vouchers issued within 30 minutes of their release.

On Friday, the Melbourne version of the scheme will involve 40,000 vouchers available at 10am that are valid for travel in an eight-week window from 19 March to 16 May.

To access the vouchers, users but spend $400 or more on accommodation, attractions or experiences and must spend a minimum of two nights in paid accommodation. To apply, visit the travel voucher scheme website after 10am on Friday.