Originally Posted by
LapSap
If the country is supposedly awash with 50billion tourist dollars that can’t be spent overseas, is saving a measly 100 or so bucks on the airfare component enough to swing somebody’s decision to suddenly take a domestic holiday that they wouldn’t have taken otherwise?? If that’s a game changer then they probably weren’t going to spend much at the other end!
You are correct that the country's consumers haven't spent money on overseas tourists but savings ratios are way up as is expenditure on home improvements. Consumers aren't redirecting their spending into domestic tourism (border closures don't help here). The subsidy is a bit of a carrot to get people spending in this area. The alternative is direct pay supplements to affected workers but that is relatively inefficient as it doesn't stand businesses back up as well as not addressing the other impacts of people not working such as mental health, self-esteem and overall confidence in the future.