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40,000 $200 Regional Travel Rebates on $400 Travel Spend Available to Victorians

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From Friday at 10am, the Victorian government is offering 40,000 Victorians $200 'vouchers' to travel within Victoria between December 12 and January 22 as a stimulus for the tourism industry.

You have to spend over $400 on one of the following categories to get the $200 back:
- accommodation
- tours
- local attractions

Exclusions are gaming, alcohol (except if alcohol is included in wine/brewery/distillery tasting type tour but excludes any alcohol purchased and consumed outside of the experience), fuel, food and drinks (except where packaged with an eligible expense such as a winery tour), groceries, personal items such as clothing and accessories, transport costs (rental vehicles, train and bus tickets).

It's really a reimbursement from the government though – travellers have to apply for the voucher, pay for the travel upfront and then receive a reimbursement from the government.

Still, $200 back on your trip is still $200 back!

Another 40,000 vouchers will be available on January 20, and may be redeemed for travel from January 27 to April 1, and the final batch of vouchers will be released on March 30 for use from April 6 to May 31.

Update: An extra 30,000 regional tourism vouchers will be made available to Victorians at 12PM today. Sold Out

Round 2: 40,000 vouchers will be released from 20 January 2021, 10.00am for travel between 27 January 2021 to 1 April 2021. Sold Out

Round 3: 30 March 2021, 10.00am, for travel between 6 April 2021 to 31 May 2021

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business.vic.gov.au
business.vic.gov.au

closed Comments

  • +3

    save and submit maybe 100 times….nearly at the end there…save and submit 101 times and still not working…

    how many have they issued so far ?

    three?

    success…literally pressed save and submit about 100 times

    • I’m on that now. Save and submit just goes back to page.

      I’ve pressed it about 30 times now, 70 more to go? Lol

      • keep going, it will end up working
        my end number is somehwere at 6000 not sure if the last digits are a counter

        • Just came through. My last 4 digits were 4426, so you might be right. Maybe 4000~ left

          Edit: dunno what happened but had to re submit cos in my account page it was in draft status. Now my number is 2179 (last 4 digits)

  • ozbargainers are crashing the site…please STOP using the site so I can submit my app…pretty please!

  • What’s the answer bit

  • How do I get pass this : Please review the form and resolve the following error before proceeding:
    There is 1 field with an error.

    • Keep submitting. It’ll eventually work
      After you fix your error

      • I’m stuck on the answer bit

        • What answer ?

          • @Danstar: Says please confirm
            Your answer
            I’m not associated don’t no y it says so

          • @Danstar: Under email bit

            • @Dex38313: Think you missed a check box you need to tick

              • @Danstar: All good now I’m n

  • This Government cant do anything right!! how hard is it to do a simple form, I have followed above and submitted 50+ times with still no confirmation

    • I submitted around 50 times before it worked finally. Comment above submitted 100 times before it worked

      • Finally!!!! at attempt 73. Will probably take them 6 months to refund the $200 when do the next stage

        • +3

          I just see it as a bonus. If you see it too much as an entitlement then just get u all upset. Was gonna have the trip anyway.

  • Anyone not get an email confirmation straight away?

    • Yeah haven't got one yet after a couple hours… is there one?

      • I did one for myself and got it within 5 mins but I had an account set up. Did one for the misses without an account and she still hasn't received the email. Give us a shout if you do…

        • It's one per address, hopefully you don't get both cancelled.

        • Oh sweet! We can stack multiple rebates?

          • @Feeblely: We live at different addresses so I'm confident my one is fine, the latter we'll see

    • Also no email, didn't read the comments so set up the account afterwards & get an error when I try to look at the .pdf :( and no application under My Grants and submissions…. bit of a fail really!

      • Not sure if I should resubmit or wait for an email…

    • It took a day for my confirmation email to arrive. Submitted successfully on Saturday night (after about 10 attempts), email arrived Sunday arvo.

  • All I can say is this program has contributed to a lot more than its worth in unproductivity across Vic today !

    • 100% I wasted my day off since 10am to finally get through now.

  • +1

    When I was working at Business Victoria around a decade ago, their semi-automated forms were terrible then, riddled with bugs that external developers could not manage to fix.

    Decade later I'm no longer working for them; however by completing this form, the experience indicated nothing has changed within Business Victoria. That 3 or 4 support lasses must be working extra long hours … lol

  • Is this all claimed? I've gone through the whole thing and can't submit.

    NVM it went through now finally.

  • I'm still unable to get through. Have logged in and pressed save and submit multiple times now for an hour. Any tips?

    NVM finally worked, logged out, logged in and this time the form is saved and submitted through there.

    • Take breaks and try every 10-15 mins

  • Yayyyy just got it…wasn't too bad, just kept pressing submit while gorging on fried chicken and watching a movie :)

  • +1

    Allocation exhausted, come back for round 2 if you missed out.

    For those claiming multiple ones for the same household, your claim will likely be denied as it explicitly states one per household.

    • Just wondering if the name on the voucher has to be the name of the invoice.

      • I would guess yes.

      • Yes

        • But isn’t it per household?

  • +2

    Was this hassle really worth $200?

    • +1

      Using 2020 hindsight…I think no is the answer!

  • +1

    Can somebody please explain I did the application without a account, got it summited but didn't get a email or anything?

  • +1

    my sister just submitted 1 for her household….thank u Vic Govt….holidays sorted :)

  • So the Guv'ment has apologized for the f**k up

    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-reaches…

  • Allocation Exhausted… This feels like the bullsht eBay Plus deals. Two Airpods for 98,000 bidders… EAD VIC GVT…

    • +1

      Don’t think it was that bad. It was effectively available to register from 11:30am up until the evening. Even at 5-6pm there had been less than 20,000 completed registrations, just under half the available allocation.

  • Couldn't really see - are we able to book acommodation using gift cards and get the rebate?

  • So has anyone received any sort of update to their application? Last email I got from them was the application acknowledgment.

    I’m just waiting on confirmation that I’m part of the 40,000 approved, so I can start booking things

    • i didnt get an email, just a number at the end

  • +1

    Now the wait to see if I made the cut for top 40k. They just do a db query sorted by timestamp I would assume? If they are smart just script an automated email, but knowing government probably all manual.

  • +1

    Looks like successful applicant emails are being sent out. I just got one. Also interestingly, the website now says there are 70000 vouchers for round 1.

    • What's the successful email look like?

      • +1

        Thank you for registering your details for the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme.

        This email acknowledges that you are one of the successful applicants in Round 1 of the Scheme.

        Your final payment will be subject to an eligibility check as you must have evidence that you are over the age of 18 and a Victorian resident to access payment. You must also present evidence that you:

        stayed in regional Victoria for at least two nights between 12 December 2020 and 22 January 2021; and
        spent over $400 on a combination of accommodation, tours and attraction entry fees during your stay.
        You will be able to redeem your voucher between 4 January and 5 February 2021 after you have undertaken the eligible travel. We will be in touch closer to 4 January to provide you with information regarding how to submit your claim.

        For more information on the program and the full program guidelines, please visit
        https://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/gr….

        By travelling to regional Victoria to enjoy everything our great state has to offer, you are helping our state’s tourism industry rebound and recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This will be an essential part of the state’s ongoing recovery.

        Visit Victoria has a range of information on tourism and travel ideas for any future trips across Victoria. To start planning your next holiday with inspiration, the latest news and great deals, visit www.visitvictoria.com or subscribe to their e-newsletter.

        Thank you for playing your part in helping to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) by following the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer.

        Sincerely,

        The team at Business Victoria

      • Dear XXXX

        Thank you for registering your details for the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme.

        This email acknowledges that you are one of the successful applicants in Round 1 of the Scheme. 

        Your final payment will be subject to an eligibility check as you must have evidence that you are over the age of 18 and a Victorian resident to access payment.  You must also present evidence that you:

        stayed in regional Victoria for at least two nights between 12 December 2020 and 22 January 2021; andspent over $400 on a combination of accommodation, tours and attraction entry fees during your stay.

        You will be able to redeem your voucher between 4 January and 5 February 2021 after you have undertaken the eligible travel. We will be in touch closer to 4 January to provide you with information regarding how to submit your claim.

        For more information on the program and the full program guidelines, please visit
        https://www.business.vic.gov.au/support-for-your-business/gr….

        By travelling to regional Victoria to enjoy everything our great state has to offer, you are helping our state’s tourism industry rebound and recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This will be an essential part of the state’s ongoing recovery.

        Visit Victoria has a range of information on tourism and travel ideas for any future trips across Victoria. To start planning your next holiday with inspiration, the latest news and great deals, visit www.visitvictoria.com or subscribe to their e-newsletter.

        Thank you for playing your part in helping to slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) by following the advice of the Victorian Chief Health Officer.

        Sincerely,

        The team at Business Victoria

        business.vic.gov.au

        • yes just got one.. so worth the time spent :)
          We booked just last week away

          • @davemc: Does the name of the booking must be the same name on the voucher?

            • @OhNoUShiz: You assume so and probably spelled the same.
              Any excuse or bad software to stop you :)

  • I got a travel voucher!

  • yay got confirmation email now

  • Just received a 'registration acknowledgement' email from Business Victoria (separate to the original email received after submitting the registration form):

    'This email acknowledges that you are one of the successful applicants in Round 1 of the Scheme.'

  • +1

    So those without the confirmation email are the ones rejected?

    I have a couple of people who submitted after me and received the emails but no email for me.

    Edit: nvm found it in my spam inbox 😂

  • Thank you for registering your details for the Regional Travel Voucher Scheme.

    This email acknowledges that you are one of the successful applicants in Round 1 of the Scheme.

    Yay!

  • More coming Monday apparently

    • +1

      Yea that's right.

      A government spokesperson confirmed late Friday that an extra 30,000 of the $200 regional tourism vouchers would be made available from Monday in recognition of the problems experienced by applicants.

      https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-reaches…

      • +1

        Will they fix the server problems though?

      • I went to the site and couldn't see any link to apply - has anyone else been able to do this today? It doesn't say sold out, website down or anything like that, just only provides general info on the scheme…

    • Cool so we can go through the process again :)

  • I got my successful applicant email today too!

    Thanks ozbargain for linking directly to the form after the apply now button was taken down!

  • +1

    Anyone know if invoices can be shared? My partner and I live at different addresses and we've spent $1k on two nights accommodation. We're going to split the cost between ourselves but it'd be 1 invoice with both our names. We both got the travel vouchers.

  • Just received an email this morning - Yay!! Finally managed to submit the application late in the evening thanks to the links provided - many thanks to the posters!!

  • Anyone know if we must use the voucher under the area selection that we have picked when filling out the form? Selected Mornington and accomm is looking at 1k minimum for a few nights which I do not want to spend… please let me know! :)

  • hi guys

    is booking.com ok to use for the accomodation, apparently you don't get a tax invoice but rather an email confirmation? is this ok as a receipt?

    • U need proof you paid for the stay. Doesn’t have to be tax invoice, just has to be something with dollars and your stay. Maybe back it up with your cc statement too

  • Are all 70K vouchers now exhausted?

    • +1

      No. Applications are available from 12pm today.

  • +1

    Any update for today? As the supposed to distribute more vouchers on monday

  • Got my successful email apparently over the weekend, I didn’t even check it till today.

  • +1

    Are todays vouchers only for round 1 (for travel up to 22 January)?

    • Yup.

      Due to the high level of demand from Round 1, there will be 30,000 vouchers available on Monday 14 December 2020 with the same eligible travel period as Round 1.

  • +2

    I don't know, is it just me or this incentive seems to be a bit misplaced? (at least for this time period)

    Due to lack of international travel opportunities, all the places are fully booked pretty much from now until end of January. What is the point of spending tax money incentivising something people would do anyways?

    Outside of high season, yes it would be great to support local economy/business, but the timing just off…

    • I tend to agree. I had already booked a week away over month ago so I was already going (port campbell). $1700 for a cabin so its by no means cheap. $200 doesn't even cover the non-refundable deposit. But a free $200 is going to encourage me to spend more on other stuff while I'm there. Well probably not since I've already been gouged the $1700 just on accom. The cabin has a full kitchen and I will bring all the food and my coffee machine.

  • It's back up and it's working,

    Just got it - no hassle

  • Got it !!

  • Got one!

  • Got through the form within 1 minute :D

  • +2

    yep way easier than last time - 1-2 minutes.

    no need to enter details of the trip itself (where you are going, how much u anticipate to spend etc).

    • +1

      They are going to ask you to submit evidence anyway. Its a joke to even ask these questions previously on last Friday.

  • Took 2 minutes to fill out the form, pleasantly surprised! Very happy I didn't waste my day on Friday

  • Well that was run a lot better than last time! It ticked over 12noon and the form was ready to go. A different website to Thursday. I've got an Application Reference from the last webpage, just no confirmation email just yet.

    Edit: Confirmation email just arrived at 12:04 pm.

  • Much better this time around. The whole process went through in less than 5 mins.

    Sweet!

  • Wow. The new site is so much better. Why did I waste my time on Friday?

  • It is again just crashing. What a joke!

  • I am staying only 1 night but spending well over 400 AUD (family of 4). Any idea if my claim will be rejected?

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