Popular bar and eatery Geronimo has been strapped in to the COVID rollercoaster for the past 18 months, and that is why they support calls for a vaccine passport in Tasmania.
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Owner Jeremy Kode threw his support behind calls from the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry to introduce the measure as part of the state's plan to navigate the pandemic.
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"If vaccine passports mean we have the ability to open the country quicker, it would be something I'd absolutely support," he said.
Mr Kode said with borders closed to Victoria and New South Wales his business had seen a typical clientele of 30 per cent interstate tourists fall to close to zero.
He said when borders were open to the two key Tasmanian tourism states earlier in the year, tourist business had boomed to sit at levels higher than before the pandemic hit, something he credited to interstate travellers not being able to head overseas.
But with the Delta strained ravaging Victoria and NSW, the influx had halted.
Mr Kode said the ability to employ casual staff, like at many Launceston businesses, was the first thing to be impacted with the latest border closures.
"We've had to let go of our casual staff ... border closures have had a massive impact on us," he said.
For varying businesses across the north of the state the idea of a vaccination passport made sense.
St Helens/St Marys Community Bank chairman Andrew MacGregor said while many of the bank's customers were not tourists, the function of any smaller business relied on there being little to no COVID in the community.
He said a vaccine passport would minimise the impact of what Premier Peter Gutwein has called inevitable Delta cases in Tasmania, and protect the local community and staff.
The TCCI conducted a survey of businesses and said nearly two thirds of those surveyed were for the idea of a vaccine passport.
"I'm hearing from businesses every day that they have struggled ever since we closed our borders. We can't live in a bubble forever and we need to work out a sensible way forward that reopens the State, protects the community and supports our economy," TCCI chief executive Michael Bailey said.
"We're calling on the state government to consult with community and business groups to discuss the vaccine passport proposal. We need a clear plan and we need it now."
Mr Gutwein said vaccine passports would be considered once every Tasmanian had the opportunity to be vaccinated.
"There needs to be a benefit [to being vaccinated]. If you're prepared to get vaccinated, but somebody else isn't, then there should be a concession, there should be benefits that you receive," he said.
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