Thursday, April 24, 2014

Are you on a 10-day weekend? - The Canberra Times


Canberra's business leaders have said workers should not feel guilty about capitalising on a 10-day long weekend holiday, provided that increased tourism to the capital accounts for lost productivity.


Canberra Business Council chief executive Chris Faulks said you would be mad not to take a 10-day holiday over the Easter and Anzac Day weekends if you were able to.


''There is an obvious productivity issue but don't forget in a normal situation people are taking their annual leave, which they're entitled to do,'' she said. ''So provided they're taking their leave entitlements and not taking a sickie there's nothing wrong.''


But Ms Faulks said the three-day working week is unlikely to cause serious damage to the territory economy if Canberra enjoyed an increased rate of tourism during the Easter and Anzac Day weekends.


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''What we're trying to do is put on events, like the folk festival, that are hugely popular and attract people to stay for two or three days,'' he said. ''That's really good for the ACT economy.''


ACT Treasurer and Tourism Minister Andrew Barr said the alignment of school holidays in the ACT and NSW, combined with Easter and Anzac Day, had meant strong numbers of visitors to the territory.


''The Anzac Day long weekend is anticipated to be another big weekend for visitation,'' he said.


''Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the dawn service at the War Memorial on Friday, following last year's record crowd of 35,000.''


A Crowne Plaza spokesman said the hotel had experienced a definite increase in occupancy over the Easter weekend with close to 600 people booked into the 296-room hotel.


''While it's been very quiet in the city this week there has been an increased number of families visiting Canberra,'' he said.


ACT Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Andrew Blyth said workers should not feel guilty about taking a break and that tourism may account for the slack.


''I think people have made the most of the fact you can get 10 days for three days' leave and as long as that's in agreement with the employer, that's fine,'' he said.


''At the same time there's a good chance we've got a number of visitors coming to Canberra, checking out our wonderful attractions and sites.''


But not every hotel in Canberra has enjoyed an influx of tourists.


QT Hotel said it experienced a quieter Easter period than usual and suspected many people had made use of the three-day week to travel outside Canberra.



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