Insights from RG Strategic
New COVID grants for the hard hit tourism sector coming in October
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Posted September 17, 2021
Tourism & Events
The Federal and State governments have just announced new grants to support tourism operators in hard-hit areas due to border closures.
Details are scant at the moment with applications opening in October but what we do know so far is that the Tourism and Hospitality Sector Hardship Program will provide one-off grants of $15,000, $25,000 and $50,000 to eligible employing small, medium and large tourism and hospitality businesses. This is for businesses across Queensland that have experienced a reduction in turnover of at least 70 per cent for at least seven consecutive days between 1 July and 30 September 2021.
There will be $40 million available for businesses across the state.
The government have yet to announce how a business will verify their eligibility but we know there will be three levels of support depending on the number of staff in the business:
- Employing sole traders to small businesses (with a payroll under $1.3 million)
- Small to medium businesses (with a payroll of $1.3 million to $10 million inclusive), and
- Medium to large businesses (payroll over $10 million).
Support will ramp up in line with payroll size from $15,000 for small businesses, to $25,000 for medium businesses, and to $50,000 for large businesses. Interestingly, while employing sole traders were mentioned in the levels supported, they were omitted from the statement of the amount of support to be offered. We hope this will be clarified and that these important businesses are indeed supported by this grant.
We also note that in the statement from the state government they specifically mention “hard hit regions such as Cairns, Whitsundays and the Gold Coast”. We hope the Sunshine Coast was omitted from this statement due to oversight and not ineligibility, but perhaps Fiona Simpson, Sandy Bolton or Dan Purdie can help clarify that.
We’ll keep an eye open for when applications are available and hope to see our concerns are for naught by then.
Photo by Luisa Denu on Unsplash
Russell and team worked tirelessly to help get our business up and running. With all facets of licensing and council approvals their expertise and tenacity are invaluable. We couldn’t have set up without them. I would strongly recommend for any new project. Russell had our liquor license, food license, and plumbing approval organised extremely fast and smooth. Any obstacles that arose were navigated quickly and gave me confidence and peace of mind to move forward.
Samuel Grey-Jones
Theo's Social Club - Noosa
Would Recommend Russell and his Team for any of your Liquor Licensing needs. Use RG Strategic.
Scott & Jenny Davy
The team at RG Strategic were fantastic to deal with, providing prompt & professional service. They demonstrated detailed knowledge of our situation and communicated clearly on what we needed to do. Using their local knowledge they formulated an approach that culminated in us gaining the approvals council initially indicated they would not support. We would highly recommend them to others.
Darren
We had RG strategic help with an extra licensed area at Whisky Boy in Noosaville. Russell dealt with liquor licensing from start to finish and we had the area approved by the date that we requested, wouldn't have happened so quickly without their help. The team at RG Strategic are super professional and go the extra mile to help with all the red tape that comes with a project such as this. We will definitely be using them again in the future for any other town planning we would require in the Noosa area. Thanks again, great job!
James Talve
Whisky Boy - Noosaville