Breaking News | 20 May 2020

May 20th, 2020

*|MC:SUBJECT|*

NSW premier announces lifting of intrastate travel restrictions from June 1

Holiday travel restrictions to be lifted from 1 June

NSW residents will be able to take a holiday anywhere in NSW from next month, with intra-state travel restrictions to be lifted from Monday 1 June, 2020.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Deputy Premier John Barilaro said NSW citizens will be able take recreational trips across NSW, as long as they maintain social distancing and good hygiene.

Ms Berejiklian said lifting the holiday travel restriction will give everyone a much needed break and help get small businesses and the tourism industry moving again.

“This is the day we’ve all been looking forward to since the COVID-19 travel restrictions were put in place earlier this year and I would like to thank everyone for their patience during the past few months of being cooped up at home,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“I must stress to everyone that, while we want people to enjoy a well-earned holiday, we must do this responsibly and continue to abide by physical distancing measures, as the last thing we want is further outbreaks that will force us to reintroduce restrictions.”

Click for Full Media Release

9 in 10 patrons will return to arts and culture events, but most aren’t ready yet

Six government agencies are collaborating with an international team of researchers to track how Australian audiences feel about attending arts and culture events in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Audience Outlook Monitor is being delivered in Australia in an unprecedented collaboration by research agencies Patternmakers (Sydney) and WolfBrown (USA) in collaboration with the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria, Create NSW, Arts Queensland, Department of Premier and Cabinet (South Australia) and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (Western Australia).

More Information

Wallaby colony survives in Kangaroo Valley

The entire colony of Brush-tailed Rock-wallabies in Kangaroo Valley survived the 2019-20 bushfires which devastated the region, with the support of emergency food drops, announced Environment Minister Matt Kean today.

“Since the Currowan fire burnt endangered Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby habitat near Kangaroo Valley in early January, National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) rangers trekked into the region every week to provide food for the hungry wallabies and ensure their survival,” Mr Kean said.

The life-saving food included carrots and sweet potatoes, as part of the Saving our Species (SoS) program to help this significant colony of a native species.

More Information

NSW Government Survey on the impacts of COVID-19

The NSW Small Business Commission is currently conducting an important survey on the impacts of Covid-19 on small businesses across NSW. We strongly encourage you to take part in the survey, which will only take around ten minutes of your time, as it will provide the NSW Government with details on key issues impacting small business as a result of the crisis. Most importantly, the survey results will be used to inform the development of support packages, recovery initiatives and policy decisions.

Click for Survey

Is your Get Connected listing up to date?

Get Connected is Destination NSW’s website membership program and is powered by ATDW-online. It is essential to keep your listing updated as it feeds into the national digital tourism platform and it’s FREE for operators in NSW.

Tourism Australia has debuted a local version of its Aussie Specialist Program.

Australian travel agents are being provided access to a free online training platform to help them sell domestic tourism experiences.

The initiative has been designed to equip agents with relevant, up-to-date information and showcase new regions, destinations and experiences within Australia. It offers training modules, itinerary suggestions, fact sheets, industry news and monthly email updates.

More Information

Agritourism 2020

Business Connect are running an agritourism webinar Tuesday, May 26, 2020 8:00 PM. Agritourism is a tourism-related experience or product that connects agricultural products, people or places with visitors to a farm or rural land.

Whether you’re an emerging business or destination, or need to revamp your existing offering, this webinar is a great opportunity to learn about this sector and to learn to build your Agribusiness.

Book Now

New research has revealed an unlikely hero may lead the way to recovery for the tourism industry

Research from Tourism Research Australia shows more than 500,000 travellers have indicated they would take a camping trip within the next two months, contributing an average of $584 per trip to regional tourism. According to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia (CIAA), this has the potential to kick-start the recovery for tourism and inject over $292 million dollars directly into the hands of regional tourism operators who rely on caravanners and campers.

More Information