Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall, left, with Armidale Country Comfort Motel operator Peter McHugh, who is looking forward to taking advantage of the new support program.
Friday, 16 July 2021
LOCAL accommodation providers, who lost bookings over the winter school holiday period due to the Sydney COVID-19 outbreak, will soon have access targeted support, with Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall today welcoming the State Government’s announcement of a $26 million assistance package.
The cash-flow boosting funding will enable eligible accommodation premises that have lost room nights between 25 June and 11 July inclusive to apply for grants up to $5,000.
Mr Marshall said the grants would account for some of the revenue lost by accommodation providers, who experienced cancellations right at the start of the important school holiday period.
“It was heartbreaking that this recent outbreak of COVID-19 occurred right on the cusp of the winter school holidays, meaning not only Sydneysiders and interstate travellers couldn’t visit our region, but many locals’ holiday plans were also disrupted,” Mr Marshall said.
“Armidale’s accommodation providers, for example, were hit particularly hard, with the lock-down leading to the cancellation of the NSW Gymnastics Country Championships and subsequently motel bookings.
“I encourage all businesses to look at the Service NSW website for more information – including detailed eligibility criteria – as it’s published in the coming weeks.”
There will be two tiers of grants available to accommodation premises through the initiative:
Tier 1: For accommodation premises that have had a cancellation of 10 room nights or less, there is a grant of $2,000; and
Tier 2: For accommodation premises that have had a cancellation of 11 room nights or more, there is a grant of $5,000
To be eligible, businesses must be registered for GST and/or hold an ABN, be located in NSW and the accommodation premises must be an entire property, i.e. not holiday letting of a spare room in a residence.
Where an owner/operator owns multiple accommodation premises (identifiable by differentiated street addresses), each accommodation premises is eligible for the grant.
Accommodation providers can apply for this grant and other support measures such as the COVID-19 Business Grant and business and employee support program.
Details of all support initiatives are available on the Service NSW website or phone 13 77 88.