Tourism Minister Martin Pakula confirmed that the fourth round of the hugely popular scheme will go live at 2pm on Wednesday, March 23.The vouchers, which have booked out in minutes during previous rounds, will be issued on a first-come first-served basis.The scheme provides successful applicants with a $200 reimbursement on travel plans when expenses of more than $400 are incurred across accommodation, attraction and experiences.To be eligible for the rebate, travellers must stay in paid accommodation, including hotels, motels, serviced apartments, caravan parks and campsites for a minimum of two consecutive nights.The vouchers, which are limited to one per household, must be used for travel between April 8 and May 27 this year.The 140,000 vouchers follow an exclusive ballot launch to eligible seniors last week.More than 52,000 vouchers were redeemed in the first round of travel in December and January, with visitors to regional Victoria spending an estimated $85m.Mr Pakula said Victorians had embraced the travel vouchers.“This fourth round of the program gives them another chance to experience the best our state has to offer,” he said.“Our state has some of the best destinations and attractions in the world and we’re encouraging Victorians to discover something new and also support local businesses and jobs.”In recent rounds, the vouchers have been snapped up within minutes. But more than 84,000 travel vouchers have gone unclaimed across Victoria, the state government has confirmed. The Andrews government’s voucher scheme has not won everyone over. “The government cannot get anything right,” Deputy Liberal leader David Southwick said of the new round of travel vouchers going live today.“Daniel Andrews cannot get anything right.“Now, why would you introduce a whole lot of new vouchers when the last ones haven’t even been taken up properly?” Mr Southwick.“Vouchers are a great idea. We need to get more small businesses supported through tourism,” he conceded.“But let’s ensure that things like vouchers are targeted. Let’s ensure that those people that have struggled get the vouchers,” he continued.“It’s appalling that we’ve seen the vouchers that have been effectively not taken up and the answer isn’t simply to print more.”Mr Southwick urged to focus on regional Victoria to ensure that the types of support available is “targeted, focused and the vouchers were sent out to where they are most needed”.Of the 200,000 vouchers handed out over the previous three rounds of the program, just 116,000 have been redeemed, Tourism Minister Martin Pakula confirmed on Wednesday.“But the important thing is, those vouchers that have been submitted with receipts have accompanied about $115 million worth of spending,” he said.Funds left over from unused vouchers would be added to future rounds of travel vouchers.The vouchers create an expectation for people to travel within a timeframe, and Mr Pakula added: “People’s lives are sometimes complicated and mean that they ultimately cannot travel in that timeframe”. The government has so far spent more than $159m on the travel voucher program. To apply: vic.gov.au/business-stimulus-package
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