Media Release: Travel bans hit local tourism operators hard 

Media Release
18 March 2020

Local tourism operators are banding together to develop practical solutions to help keep small operators afloat as the impact of COVID-19 hits the local economy.

Two Feet & a Heartbeat, The Little Ferry Company and Go Cultural tours are encouraging Perth residents to support local by purchasing gift certificates for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, birthdays and Christmas presents in advance.

Two Feet co-owner and general manager Ryan Zaknich said tourism businesses were already seeing huge numbers of cancelations and drops in enquiries and many could be facing closure.

“Travel bans, severe reductions of inbound flights and forced quarantine measures are all hitting tourism operators really hard,” Mr Zaknich said.

“The Government’s decision to enforce self-isolation for all arriving international visitors, while understandable in the current climate, is crippling for our industry.

“We were already facing a difficult start to the year with the economic slowdown, but COVID-19 and its associated impacts are going to have huge and lasting impacts on what is already a vulnerable, but extremely valuable, industry to the WA economy.

“We have never experienced anything like this before and operators are all scrambling to work out how to navigate the next few months. We need to ensure that when we do get through this, and people start travelling again, there are still quality experiences for visitors to enjoy.

“One initiative we’re implementing is asking the WA community to help us by purchasing gift certificates for future tours and experiences. By law, gift certificates must now be valid for three years so there is plenty of time to use them – and they will give the recipients something positive to look forward to.”

Two Feet, The Little Ferry Company and Go Cultural are all currently offering discounts off selected gift certificates.

Two Feet & a Heartbeat is a multiple award-winning experiential tourism provider specialising in fully escorted tours in Perth and Western Australia. It was awarded its second consecutive Gold medal at the Australian Tourism Awards, held in Canberra in March, for Excellence in Food Tourism.

The Little Ferry Company and Go Cultural are both based at Elizabeth Quay. The Little Ferry Company operates a hop on / hop off ferry service of the Swan River in an elegant, solar-powered vessel. Go Cultural offers Aboriginal and cultural walking tours around Perth city.

ENDS.

For further information please contact:
Ryan Zaknich at Two Feet & a Heartbeat.
Ph: 0431 918 758 or E: ryanz@twofeet.com.au

Two Feet & a Heartbeat:       https://www.twofeet.com.au/
Go Cultural:                             http://gocultural.com.au/
Little Ferry Company:           https://www.littleferryco.com.au/

 

 

Support Local Tourism     Support Perth Tourism