With this in mind, the groups have pleaded with the Government to put a five-year freeze on the travel fee, first introduced in 1978 at $10.
“The tourism industry has gone through terrible, terrible times during COVID and is a long way from [being] recovered. At this point in time, international is about 60 per cent of what it was before COVID – and domestic which has been quite strong, is now starting to feel the pain from cost of living,” Tourism and Transport Forum (TTF) CEO Margy Osmond told 9News.
“This is not the time to increase or apply a tax to the tourism industry. And we have real fears that we’re going to see an increase in the passenger movement charge, which is charged to everybody leaving Australia when the budget’s delivered.”
The Australian Federation of Travel Agents (AFTA) CEO Dean Long added that the tax had “increased 500 per cent since its inception”.
“It is a tax on Australians leaving the country to reconnect with loved ones. With 49 per cent of Australians with a parent born overseas, this isn’t just a tax on a holiday: this is one less night spent with grandma, this is one less night you can spend at a wedding; it is missing a christening.”
“This tax is a bad tax. We need it frozen, and we need it frozen in this budget.”
Australians could soon pay more to travel overseas, if the $60 PMC is increased in tomorrow's federal budget @TTFAus @AFTAOfficial @AusAirports
PMC a “holiday tax”
In a joint message, AFTA, TTF, and the Australian Airports Association (AAA) called the PMC a “tax on travel” and a “holiday tax”.
The Government uses revenue from the tax “to fund international passenger processing at our borders … but approximately 50 per cent just goes to the Government’s bottom line”.
Additionally, PMC earnings had risen from $247 million in 2016 to around $1.2 billion in 2019, the industry bodies said.
Meanwhile, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Australasia has joined the call for a five-year freeze on the PMC.
“Australia’s Passenger Movement Charge is already one of the highest in the world,” CLIA Australasia Managing Director Joel Katz said.
“Our travel agent members are telling us that now is not the time to put an additional burden on travellers.
“Increasing the PMC will only result in more expensive fares for Australian travellers and international visitors.
“Any increase will undermine the cruise industry’s efforts to revive its $5 billion-a-year contribution to the national economy and rebuild employment opportunities in destinations around the country.”
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