Local tourism all at sea

Seasonal whale shark tourism businesses in the North West have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic as the virus shuts down the tourist season. Ningaloo Whale Sharks owner Matt Winter said despite billions of dollars of stimulus injected by State and Federal governments into the economy, he worries his 19-year-old business won’t survive. “I am probably very, very close to being wiped out,” he said. “Our season is gone. Unfortunately we ran three tours out of 180. “It was literally within days the worst-possible case scenario for our business and I’m pretty sure most of the North West businesses that get busy from March onwards.” Mr Winter said some employees were eligible for JobKeeper, however it required he have enough funds to keep them on the books until the Government reimbursed wages in May. “It’s useful as a way of ensuring people have got money to pay the bills but the demands on small businesses, especially if you have been wiped out and had to shut down because of COVID-19, are quite significant to actually qualify for it and make it work for us,” he said. Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said another issue with JobKeeper was that many tourism businesses were seasonal and some may not be eligible to receive the payment. “They are not eligible for JobKeeper payments because their employees were due to start for the peak season in April, or are casuals who have not been engaged for a whole 12 months as their season only runs for six to eight months,” he said. “These seasonal businesses have just come out of off-peak season where there is no income, and have invested everything into their upcoming peak season — it is highly likely many of these businesses will not survive.” Mr Winter said he was concerned once the pandemic passed, people would not have enough money to travel. “I think with any tourism it comes back to discretionary income. “Unfortunately the North West is an expensive place to get to and it’s not a cheap place to go on holidays,” he said.