Thousands of Aussie businesses to receive free $100,000 grant after being hit hard by pandemic shut down - so is your company eligible?
Travel agents can apply to receive grants of up to $100,000 from the government to help them survive amid COVID-19 travel bans and international border closures.
The Morrison government has forked out $128million for the scheme, which will be handed out to travel agencies in one-off grants of between $1,500 to $100,000.
Eligible travel agents that make between $50,000 and $20million a year can apply for the grant.
The Morrison government has forked out $128million for the scheme, which will be handed out to travel agencies in one-off grants of between $1500 to $100,000
A passenger is greeted after arriving on the first flight from Melbourne at Brisbane Domestic Airport on Tuesday - after a difficult nine months for the domestic travel industry
Businesses with a turnover of $50,000 will be handed a $1,500 payment, while $100,000 will go towards travel agents with a $20million turnover
Businesses with a turnover of $50,000 will be handed a $1,500 payment, while $100,000 will go towards travel agents with a $20million per year turnover.
Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said the payments are to help travel agents keep afloat after being forced to refund bookings while working without an income.
'This one off payment recognises that travel agents are operating in an exceptional set of circumstances where most are having to refund last year's income while continuing to work with no additional income,' he said.
'Providing further assistance to travel agents in the current environment will help keep them afloat at a time when they are continuing to hold travel credits for consumers who have previously cancelled travel.'
Australian Federation of Travel Agents chief executive officer Darren Rudd said the package will help keep the sector running in a 'new world of COVIDSafe travel'.
But Flight Centre's representatives said the grant 'won't apply to us to any significant extent,' given it's a large business with company-owned stores.
It said the measures would be 'enormously beneficial', as many retailers were prevented from earning money thanks to border closures both domestically and internationally.
Domestic border closures, including Queensland's for 250 days, has also seen local tourism taking a nosedive (pictured, couple reunite after a man arrives on the first flight from Sydney to Melbourne on November 23)
The industry has been badly hit by Australia closing its international borders on March 20, a policy unlikely to be scrapped for at least another year.
Meanwhile, domestic border closures, including Queensland's for 250 days, has also seen local tourism taking a nosedive.
On Tuesday morning, the Sunshine State lifted its border with Victoria for the first time since March 26, and to Sydneysiders for the first time since August 8.
Airport staff greet the first passengers back from Sydney since the Queensland borders re-opened on Tuesday
The Sunshine State slammed its border shut to the entire nation on March 26, before slowly reopening to low-risk states. Pictured: a passenger arrives at Brisbane airport on Tuesday