Tuesday 28 April 2020

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

TOURISM AND EVENTS INDUSTRY SUPPORTS COVIDSAFE APP

The tourism and events industry has encouraged even more Australians to download and use the COVIDSafe app saying it was the next step in the containment of COVID 19 and would help to hasten the easing of current restrictions and social distancing measures, the industry’s peak bodies said today.

The industry represented by the Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF), the Accommodation Association (AA), Cruise Lines International Australasia (CLIA), the Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) the Restaurant and Catering Association (RCA) and the Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) said the rapid take up of the COVIDSafe app shows how seriously Australians are treating the response to this challenge, both in terms of their health, but also a desire for a return to some form of normality as soon as possible.

“We welcome this initiative from the Federal Government to use the power of technology for contact tracing to ensure they can quickly identify the origins of new cases of COVID 19 and Australians have already embraced the app to the tune of 2 million downloads in the less than two days since its launch on Sunday.

“The more widely this app is used, the more quickly the Federal and State and Territory Governments will be able to ease restrictions as we enter the economic recovery phase.

“Our industries are losing some $9.6 billion every month that the pandemic continues and are forecasting job losses of 370,000 if it continues through 2020. However, if we keep working together, including embracing this new technology, we will survive this crisis and come out the other side intact.”

Ends.

Media Contacts:

AFTA: Jayson Westbury – jayson.westbury@afta.com.au or 0414 906 767

AA: Dean Long – Dean.Long@aaoa.com.au or 0409 466 781

RCA: Wes Lambert – wes@rca.asn.au or 0488 579 888

BECA: Vanessa Findlay – vfindlay@brickfielderge.com or 0407 895 813

CLIA: Jon Murrie – jmurrie@cruising.org or 400 878 493

TTF: Lindsay Hermes – lhermes@ttf.org.au 0418 948 447