Outback tourism business ready to ‘turn the key’ thanks to a COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan
Winter is peak tourism season for outback Queensland but this year COVID-19 has forced these bustling rural and remote communities and tourism businesses into dormancy due to restrictions.
Alan Smith
Longreach based tour business Outback Aussie Tours has been operating for 32 years and is ready to ‘turn the key’ on their coaches and cruises once restrictions ease.
Alan Smith owns and operates Outback Aussie Tours with his wife, Sue, and said that the Queensland Government COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan had been a ‘God saver’ in supporting his business through this tough time.
“The impact of COVID-19 took a record year of nearly $7 million including forward bookings and basically put that on hold. It caused an absolute nightmare of cancelling tours and keeping the faith in as many of our passengers as we could,” he said.
“We’ve got an enormous amount of value clients who have opted for credit. We’re so glad people worked with us on that, it’s great to have the emotional support and their belief that we are worthy of holding on to their purchase to use at a later date.
“We probably wouldn’t have made it without the support of the COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan and if we did make it, it would have been at a high cost,” he said.
The loan scheme administered by QRIDA provides finance of up to $250,000 for businesses and non-profit organisations impacted by COVID-19 to assist with carry-on expenses such as employee wages, rent and rates and other expenditure.
With the help of the COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan, Outback Aussie Tours were able to support their close-knit team of employees.
“It was a relief to receive the loan because it meant we could keep our team who are like extended family to us and it meant we could continue doing what we were doing,” he said.
“It’s really important to give confidence to our team, the community we support and our clients. With restrictions slowly easing and Queensland open for intrastate travel we’re preparing to re-open some tour operations.
“The 1.5 metre social distancing measures are more flexible for some of our tour packages so we can get 20 people on our cruise boat and with a COVID safe plan in place, we can get back to business.
“There’s a lot of mixed information about getting back to business. It’s really important to us that the community, our guests and our team feel safe,” he said.
For important information about your loan visit the COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan page.
QRIDA is delivering the $1 billion COVID-19 Jobs Support Loan Scheme on behalf of the Queensland Government.
