Ballarat businesses have welcomed the state government's announcement of $143 million support package after the 'circuit breaker' lockdown forced many to close, but have said it did not come close to covering the costs incurred from the closures.
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Hospitality, tourism, events and selected retail industries will be among an estimated 50,000 businesses to benefit from the support package.
Included in the package is a new round of $200 vouchers for travel in regional Victoria and Melbourne to bolster tourism while accommodation businesses will receive dedicated support of up to $4500.
Accommodation providers who had 10 or fewer cancellations can apply for $2250 per business while providers with more than 10 booking cancellations can apply for $4500 per business through the Victorian Accommodation Support Program.
Of the 50,000 vouchers available, 10,000 will specifically support travel in regional Victoria.
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Grants worth $2000 will be available to eligible businesses in hospitality, food wholesaling, tourism, events and selected retail industries while additional payments through the Licensed Hospitality Venue Fund will give previous recipients of this grant an automatic one-off $3000 payment.
Sovereign Park Motor Inn owner Tim Canny welcomed the announcement but said the payment would not cover an estimated $40,000 in lost revenue.
"We're pleased to get something back after what was a very sudden and disheartening decision. We were in a bit of shock so it's nice to be able to get something back. Obviously, it won't replace the money we would've got, but anything like this is very welcome," he said.
"We're eligible for $4500. That helps with the impact of those five days of lockdown and it will certainly help support us to recover."
Mr Canny said there had been a noticeable increase in demand from the voucher program, but the vouchers' use on online travel agents such as Expedia was costing businesses up to 20 per cent per booking.
"We're not sure because it's up to the guests to ask for the rebate but we have noticed an increase in demand and guests asking for receipts, so we can tell there are a few guests utilising the vouchers. That's a really good thing that works really well and does increase the demand for travel," he said.
"It would be nice if those vouchers could only be used for direct booking, we're finding people are booking on online travel agents and businesses lose out on 15 per cent. There's no GST we can claim on those either, so we're losing up to 20 per cent on those bookings."
The Forge Pizzeria was one of many hospitality businesses across Ballarat affected by the lockdown, being forced to quickly move to a takeaway-only service model.
Owner Tim Matthews said more notice or a clearer picture of what potential lockdowns could look like would further support businesses.
"You're probably looking at, through cost alone, way more than [$3000] in wasted food. Obviously, there are wages that need to be paid as well as that," he said.
"It probably doesn't go that close to covering it but I think it's important to bear in mind that it's all adding up, we're not the only people suffering and any support is welcomed.
"I think the local support has been really good and that includes the support from local MPs but we're hoping we can continue to get additional support to get businesses back on their feet."
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