20 Aug 2021

Borders ease to NT & QLD, gathering caps change, Great State Voucher updates & more...

Quite a bit of movement with South Australia’s COVID restrictions today – borders relaxing with two states, an increase on capacity for private functions at licensed premises with stand-up drinking allowed for those gatherings, and an increase in home gathering caps. 

In other news for SA’s tourism industry, an Expressions of Interest for tour and experience operators to participate in Great State Voucher round five is underway, we’ve listened to industry and brought forward the dates for Great State Voucher round six, tickets are on-sale for one of our major events as part of Bloom, and more. 

Read on for details of these updates. 

Rodney Harrex
Chief Executive

Changes to COVID restrictions in SA

Effective immediately, SA will lift its border restrictions with the Northern Territory (except Katherine) and northern Queensland, with no requirement for testing or quarantining.

Travellers from south-east Queensland, including Brisbane, can now visit SA under level 3 restrictions, meaning they must have tests on days 1, 5 and 13, and must isolate until their first negative result. 

South Australia’s borders remain closed to NSW, Victoria and the ACT. 

Other changes announced by the Police Commissioner after this morning’s Transition Committee include, from midnight tonight:  

  • Private functions (at licensed premises) capped at 150 people and stand-up consumption allowed if 50% density is maintained. Seated consumption changes density to 75%  
  • Private gatherings (not at home and not in a licensed venue) remain at 50, but stand-up consumption allowed 50% density is maintained  
  • Licensed venues remain at 75% capacity and seated consumption only 
  • Home gatherings capped at 20 people 
  • No changes to mask requirements. 

The Transition Committee will continue to monitor the situation in NSW, the ACT and Victoria. 

For further information, see covid-19.sa.gov.au. 

Tour & experience operators – submit your Expression of Interest

An Expression of Interest call-out is currently underway for operators of hosted tours and experiences across SA to participate in the upcoming round five of our Great State Voucher scheme. Round five of the vouchers, targeted to hosted tours and experiences, will begin in mid-September (including the school holidays) for travel during spring. 

We’ve invited operators to register their interest in participating and have had a strong uptake. Expressions of Interest close at 5pm, Monday 23 August.

For details including Frequently Asked Questions and to submit an EOI, visit the Great State Voucher page on our website. 


We've listened – accommodation vouchers to launch next month

After receiving feedback from industry that round six of our Great State Voucher scheme – targeted to accommodation – needs to be delivered earlier than October, we’ve been able to bring the launch forward.

Accommodation vouchers will now be available from September, with travel starting from 23 September. Round four is currently travelling until the end of August, and we expect for Expressions of Interest to open to accommodation providers on 30 August.  

With each iteration of our Great State Voucher scheme, we continuously listen to industry and work to deliver this tourism stimulus to where – and when – it is most needed.  


Beginning to Bloom – The Ultimate Event coming to Adelaide

Tickets are on sale for The Ultimate Event, one of four new major events as part of our recently announced festival of events, Bloom, coming to SA this spring. Secure your seats for the one-night-only concert by Anthony Warlow, Kate Ceberano and David Campbell at the Village Green at Adelaide Oval on Saturday 23 October. 

With only 10,000 tickets, this is sure to be a sell-out. More here. 

Marketing activity update

With the volatile situation presented by Australia’s Delta outbreak, the SATC’s national marketing activity is constantly evolving and shifting to ensure it is as effective as possible in the markets it is needed. In line with this, we’ll endeavour to keep industry updated on current and upcoming cooperative marketing activity within our Industry Update newsletters. 

The SATC is currently working on cooperative marketing campaigns with Holidays of Australia, Phil Hoffmann Travel, and RAA. Next month, we will continue partnering with Phil Hoffmann Travel and Holidays of Australia. Phil Hoffmann Travel is promoting intrastate travel – with a focus on Adelaide CBD; and Holidays of Australia is promoting its South Australian getaways by private aircraft. More to come.  

 

See the full Industry Update - 20 August 2021 here.