Tourism industry issues dire warning as more events cancel

Following the announcement that another high-profile Queensland event has been cancelled, tourism leaders say their industry is crying out for help.

Tourism leaders say they are effectively still in lockdown as businesses struggle to survive the latest Covid outbreak.

With Cairns joining Sydney and Melbourne in lockdown and travel restrictions in place across the country, tourism industry bosses have issued an urgent plea for help.

The iconic Birdsville Races has become the latest high-profile casualty of the uncertainty, following the postponement of this weekend’s Sunshine Coast Marathon.

This year’s Sunshine Coast Marathon has been postponed.

Speaking on the Glitter Strip on Monday, Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said business owners had been pushed to the brink, calling for the return of a JobKeeper-style wage subsidy.

“We still remain in economic lockdown,” she said.

“We’ve had two lockdowns within a month and we never recovered from the first one.

“The June-July holidays never eventuated … what was supposed to be a bumper school holiday period saw occupancy as low as 20 per cent.

“To get us through until Christmas, we need to look at a wage subsidy to help us get through until when people can move around.

“The industry is crying out for help. We are pleading with government to work together.”

She said there would be dire consequences for tourism businesses if more help was not delivered.

“A lot of our attractions and experiences are making difficult decisions about whether they even reopen this week,” she said.

“We know that some businesses will be closing for good.

“They have survived this long but there is nothing left in the tank.”

Cairns is at the forefront of the industry’s struggles and the latest lockdown could be the final nail in the coffin for many tourism operators.

Even regions not forced into lockdown were effectively cut off, with the outback and Granite Belt experiencing mass cancellations in the past fortnight.

The Birdsville Races will now be held on April 10 and 11 next year, creating a rare two meets in the same year ahead of a return to the traditional dates next September.

Gary Brook, vice president of the Birdsville Race Club, said with many ticketholders currently unable to enter Queensland, cancelling the event was the only sensible option.

“We are now less than a month away from the event, and more than 85% of our ticket holders reside in locations that are interstate and unable to currently enter Queensland, or in lockdown or discouraged from travelling to regional Queensland,” he said.