FOLLOWING the swift take-up of 75,000 Great State vouchers earlier this month, the SA government is investigating a third round of the initiative this year.
This is despite strong criticism from the opposition about the "sluggish" booking rates due to the strict criteria for their use.
But SA Tourism Commission chief executive Rodney Harrex said the first round of vouchers, launched in October, had injected $10 million into the state's tourism economy, creating tens of thousands of bookings and helping to sustain and create jobs.
Nearly 50,000 vouchers were allocated in 90 minutes, with almost half redeemed.
"We know the summer holidays are traditionally a peak tourism period, which is why we launched a second round to further bolster tourism businesses and we opened it up to the interstate market to leverage the opportunity of easing border restrictions," he said.
"In the first two weeks since bookings opened, nearly 18,000 bookings have been made across the state, while as of Friday, nearly 5000 voucher holders have already checked in - an immediate economic boost to operators across SA."
But while the state government has been singing the praises of its Great State campaign, Labor leader Peter Malinauskas has said the initiative "failed to deliver the full benefit to our struggling tourism businesses", particularly when only half the vouchers were used in round one.
Labor wants the government to increase the voucher values; allow people to use the vouchers any day of the week (with Saturday nights presently excluded); and include boutique accommodation providers, hospitality venues, travel agents, experiences, tours and attractions.
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"Labor is calling for the state government to have a third crack at the tourism voucher scheme, in a bid to ensure SA's struggling tourism businesses actually enjoy the benefits of the program," Mr Malinauskas said.
On Sunday, Premier Steven Marshall confirmed they were looking into a third round of vouchers, which had a "broader scope", including the tours and experiences sector.
"I am not sure why our political opponents want to talk down regional jobs at the moment," he said.
"We are one of the few places in the world which ended up with more people employed last year, than at the beginning of the year. There are not many places that can claim that, and a lot of that is down to South Australians spending money and supporting tourism businesses in our state."
Vouchers acquired in the second round of the program need to be used before January 31.
'LOYAL LOCALS' HELP TO BOOST BUSINESS AT GOLDING
THE influx of South Australians touring in their own backyard is being felt at Golding Wines in Lobethal, where the lack of international visitors has definitely been offset by "loyal locals", according to owner Lucy Golding.
"People are looking for things to do in their own backyard, and we are lucky Adelaide is surrounded by wine regions. People have really embraced getting out to enjoy food and wine, which has helped in our post-bushfire and COVID-19 recovery," she said.
The 2019 summer bushfires burnt or severely affected 95 per cent of the Golding vineyard.
"It has taken a year to replace all the irrigation and while it has been a lot of hard work, we have been nicely surprised to see a lot of the vines recover," she said. "This year's vintage could be up to 70pc of what we have done previously, which is encouraging."
Another positive has been the return to wedding season, after COVID-19 restrictions brought that side of the business to a standstill.
It has taken a while...but from from here on in, we are really busy with weddings.
- LUCY GOLDING
"It has taken a while to see bookings pick back up again, but from from here on in, we are really busy with weddings," Mrs Golding said.
"It's really positive to see it pick up because that aspect of the business was hit the hardest during COVID - people just couldn't commit when they didn't know what the future held.
"We as a business are the same, and have yet to re-introduce our large-scale, festival-type events, because planning those is a long way in advance.
"But now we are very busy through our restaurant and tasting room every weekend anyway, so it isn't something we have put a priority back into."
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