INDUSTRY UPDATE

Good afternoon,

Very welcome news this week, ahead of Step 3 in South Australia’s roadmap to recovery commencing on Monday 29 June.

From Monday, the density requirement of one person per 4 square metres will be eased to one person per 2 square metres. This will be of great benefit to our state’s hospitality sector, helping boost capacity numbers in bars, pubs, cafes, restaurants and more in the CBD and across our regions. It will mean more South Australians can get back to work in the tourism sector, and more visitors can be welcomed back across our great state. 

Among the changes from next week include good news for the state’s events sector – as of Monday, larger events with up to 50% capacity will also be considered, after a comprehensive COVID Management Plan has been put in place and approved by SA Health. This means that Adelaide Oval, for example, will be allowed to have a crowd of up to 25,000 spectators from next week – something that will be of benefit not only to the Adelaide Oval Stadium Management Authority but also to those many tourism and hospitality businesses that will benefit from an increase in visitors to the city.

Indoor events, music festivals, amusement parks and nightclubs will also be permitted under Step 3, as long as they adhere to the new density requirements, and in some cases, seek government approval.

Restrictions remain in place for those people visiting from New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria. We continue to work with SA Health and the Premier’s office to monitor and advise of any changes moving forward.

For details about the changes to restrictions in line with Step 3, refer to the updated South Australian Roadmap to Easing COVID-19 Restrictions via the State Government’s COVID-19 recovery page. 

The South Australian Tourism Commission is continuing to promote our intrastate tourism opportunities, and will add a further interstate element to our marketing in coming weeks, hoping to encourage people from Queensland, Northern Territory, Tasmania and Western Australia to visit our state, and explore all of the opportunities we have within our borders.

We know there are people who are very keen to travel, and we need to capture their attention as soon as we can. We are also active in New Zealand, on the assumption that it will be one of the first international borders to open when the Federal Government lifts restrictions. There is a lot of activity as people start to look at their travel plans post-COVID, and I can assure you that we are out there, making sure South Australia is at the top of their minds.

Welcome Back update

Since the launch of our Welcome Back recovery campaign, there’s been nearly 1 million visits to the state’s key tourism portal – southaustralia.com – with more than half of these, over 570,000, from interstate, more than tripling on the same time last year.

It has been heartening to hear some of the very positive feedback operators have been sharing with our team, in particular stories of strong forward bookings and enquiries at locations right across the state.

COVID-19 Awareness Training – reminder 

Thank you to the nearly 3,500 tourism and hospitality workers who have taken the free 30-minute COVID-19 Awareness Training course. Designed to give employees and business owners in the tourism and hospitality sector the basics they need to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 infection, it's had a very strong take-up from the industry, giving South Australian businesses a very proactive COVID-clean credit. Upon completion of the course, you can now request a window decal to be sent to you to display in the window of your business premises to help welcome back customers. 

I will continue to keep you updated.

Yours sincerely,

Rodney Harrex

Chief executive 

See the full Industry Update - 24 June 2020 here.