CANBERRA, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Australia's tourism industry has called for more government support as it faces another bleak year.
Margy Osmond, the chief executive of the Tourism and Transport Forum, said on Tuesday that the industry has "no hope" of recovery while Australia's borders remain closed.
"There is no way that domestic tourism can fill the gap that will be left by inbound international travel," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
"Essentially your average Chinese visitor to Australia probably spends 8,500 Australian dollars (about 6,551 U.S. dollars) while they're here. Your average Aussie who heads off for a holiday is probably spending about 1,500 Australian dollars (about 1,156 U.S. dollars)."
"Make no mistake, while international borders remain closed, we have no hope of recovery."
Her comments came one day after Brendan Murphy, Department of Health Secretary, revealed that "substantial border restrictions" would likely remain in place for "most" of 2021.
In response, Ormond called for the federal government to announce support for the tourism industry beyond the planned end of the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme in March.
"The government is going to have to think very seriously about how it supports this industry for the next couple of years, not just the next couple of months, if it wants to have a tourism industry when we actually reopen our international borders," she said.
However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg on Monday again ruled out any extension to JobKeeper saying the temporary scheme had served its purpose during the worst of the pandemic in Australia.
"I'm confident that the key pillars of our economic response are in place," he said. Enditem
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