Coronavirus Gold Coast: City leaders, business owners breathe sigh of relief over Queensland border
Tourism and business operators - as well as city leaders - have breathed a collective sigh of relief as the Queensland Premier sticks to her promised border reopening date.
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TOURISM and business operators plus city leaders breathed a collective sigh of relief on Monday after the Queensland Premier stuck to her promised July 10 border reopening date.
After a “rollercoaster” month of uncertainty, Queensland Airports CEO Chris Mills said the decision yesterday to lock in July 10 - but excluding Victorians – was the “right outcome”.
“We’re very hopeful even with restrictions on Victoria we can get to 40 per cent of domestic business by August. But at this stage we don’t know what the future holds for international travel or a trans-Tasman bubble.”
The airport is operating seven flights a week, compared to an average of 60 a day before coronavirus shutdowns.
Mr Mills said ramping up travel between NSW and the Gold Coast “was going to be massive” - prior to the crisis it was the fourth busiest route in Australia.
“We’d have loved to have Melbourne but safety is the priority. Research shows pent up demand for travel to Queensland and the Gold Coast, with the city being a very desirable location this time of year.
“Everyone who would usually have been travelling overseas may now look to us and there’s a real opportunity for the Gold Coast to tap into the opportunity that opening the borders presents.
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“But the key thing is it’s recognising this isn’t the end of it, this just gets us to the starting line in terms of recovery.”
Destination Gold Coast CEO Annaliese Battista said reopening the border would pay immediate dividends.
“We are delighted with the balanced approach to ensuring the Gold Coast economy will start to recover through tourism as well as make sure we remain a safe place to visit and this reputation is preserved. We can start the journey to recovery. This provides much-needed certainty.”
Ms Battista, whose organisation missed out on extra funding from Gold Coast City Council to supercharge promotional campaigns in the wake of the pandemic, said she would immediately “press the button” on a multimillion-dollar interstate tourism campaign aimed at jump-starting the market after July 10.
“There is significant pent-up demand for the Gold Coast and we are unlocked, loaded and ready to go in promoting our brand again.”
Mayor Tom Tate was “optimistic” the economy would recover with borders to reopen.
“International students will come back, (there’s an) uplift in development,” he said, but added loss of the Victorian market was a disappointment.
“But they’ll come back in bigger (numbers) after this is over, they’ll want to come and celebrate their freedom here on the Gold Coast.”
He added it was “sensible” to keep people from the hard-hit Victoria out.
“Every step of the way I’ve backed the decisions made, based on scientific data, by our Chief Medical Officer. It hasn’t been easy for the Premier and myself because there’s been a lot of pressure out there to get everything going.”
For backing Ms Palaszczuk’s border block city operators labelled him a “deserter” and accused the Mayor of leaving them “high and dry”. He later joined Destination Gold Coast chairman Paul Donovan to urge Ms Palaszczuk to “give us a date”.
He said businesses across the Coast could now prepare for interstate travellers.
Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland general manager of advocacy Amanda Rohan said eased restrictions on pubs, clubs and stadiums would breathe life into businesses and communities relying on the whole economy to be moving.
“While a commitment to the border reopening date is welcomed, it won’t magically undo the damage businesses have sustained the last few months.
“State and Federal Governments need to be implementing further measures which include wage subsidies for apprentice and traineeships; support for reducing ongoing operating costs; support such as electricity, rent and waste; and ongoing relief for permits and fees charges.”
The Accommodation Association, the industry’s peak body, said across the country 60,000 tourism accommodation jobs had been lost due to COVID-19, with 8000 Queenslanders now unemployed.
Originally published as Coronavirus Gold Coast: City leaders, business owners breathe sigh of relief over Queensland border