New figures show shocking toll of Covid pandemic on state of Queensland tourism

Tourism has borne the brunt of the Covid pandemic and new figures reveal just how big the blow has been.

The Covid-19 pandemic has cost the Queensland tourism industry almost $20 billion, as new figures lay bare the crippling toll of the crisis.

Statistics from Tourism Research Australia reveal the Queensland tourism industry, a $27 billion juggernaut in 2019, generated just $12 billion in the year to March.

International visitors, worth almost $7 billion in 2019, dried to a paltry $89 million as virtually all international travel ground to a halt.

It is estimated the three months since March – which includes two lockdowns – have wiped another $3 billion from the coffers of Queensland tourism operators, in a devastating blow that could send thousands of businesses to the wall.

Since the China travel ban that came into effect early last year, the total cost to the Queensland tourism industry now stands at an eye-watering $19 billion.

In a rare positive development, Queensland continues to weather the pandemic better than other states, with visitor numbers (down 31 per cent) and spending (down 36 per cent), outperforming the national average (35 per cent and 42 per cent respectively).

The numbers were also slightly better than NSW and unsurprisingly, much stronger than Victoria.

However there is no sugar-coating the disaster, which is estimated to see the demise of some 10,000 Queensland tourism businesses before the pandemic is over.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said it would be a long road to a true recovery.

“We are in a very deep hole and it will take a long time to recover,” he said.

SEA LIFE Mooloolaba general manager Quinn Clarke with Teiko the female australian sea lion. Picture: Lachie Millard

“We have good periods (between outbreaks), but every time there is a lockdown consumer confidence takes another battering that takes longer and longer to recover from.

“The timing of these outbreaks also hurts because this is supposed to be the school holiday peak season and once the holidays are gone, they’re gone.”

The Sunshine Coast has weathered the storm better than most regions, with visitor numbers dropping just 18 per cent compared to the state average of 31.1 per cent.

However some operators are still bemused why the Holiday Dollars initiatives introduced in other parts of the state have not been used to boost visitor numbers on the Sunshine Coast.

Quinn Clarke, general manager of SEA LIFE Aquarium at Mooloolaba, said operators needed whatever help they could get to endure the pandemic.

“Other regions have had the benefits of the travel dollars, so it would be ideal to have a level playing field,” he said.

“We’re not as reliant on international travel as some other regions, but it doesn’t necessarily translate into extra dollars.”

Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the Holiday Dollars schemes were designed to support the regions hardest hit by the ongoing closure of Australia’s international border and sudden loss of overseas visitors.

He said there were still positive signs despite the gloom.

“While I recognise the challenges the current three-day lockdown has created for so many tourism operators, it is encouraging to see Queensland’s tourism recovery progressing faster than the rest of the nation,” he said.