Holiday hot spots feel the effects of Brisbane’s lockdown
Brisbane’s lockdown may have turned the city into a ghost town but it has had a surprising flow-on for some of the region’s biggest tourist centres.
QLD News
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BRISBANE’S lockdown rippled across the southeast yesterday as the stay home order impacted crowds across our biggest tourism centres.
While Brisbane resembled the ghost town expected by the Chief Health Officer’s drastic action against the mutant coronavirus strain, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast were also noticeably quieter a day after a mass exodus from the capital caused traffic chaos on the M1 and Bruce Highway.
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The Gold Coast doesn’t get much busier than a midsummer holiday weekend, but crowds at beaches, shopping centres and tourist attractions were noticeably down, due largely to inclement weather and the absence of Brisbane day-trippers who normally pump millions of dollars a day into the city’s economy.
Still, it was a heaving metropolis compared to Brisbane, where the city’s busiest streets were left deserted as the region leads into its second full day of lockdown.
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Queen Street Mall and South Bank, both popular spots for weekend shoppers and exercisers, were ghost towns yesterday as most residents remained at home.
Despite being allowed to exercise nearby home and shop for essential items, one woman told The Courier-Mail she had expected to be the only one heading for a morning coffee from McDonalds in Queen Street Mall.
“I’m only coming out for this and staying home for the rest of the day,” she said.
“At least it’s good movie weather.”
Some shop fronts displayed signs reminding residents of Greater Brisbane to wear masks, while others closed entirely until Tuesday.
Chemists, convenience stores, supermarkets and fast food chains were primarily the only businesses open, but H&M, City Beach and EB Games in the mall also opened to little foot traffic.
Those who did venture out were donning face masks, with police riding through the mall ensuring everyone was following the rules.
After a mass exodus on the roads yesterday, streets have been left empty from the lockdown, with few cars on roads and traffic flowing freely through the region.
Finding a car park at a Gold Coast beach on a holiday weekend is generally like finding a gold nugget, but apart from a large crowd gathered for a surfing contest at Burleigh, the beaches were quiet.
Unlike their Brisbane neighbours, bars, cafes and shopping centres traded freely, but crowds were well down from last weekend.
Allowed to roam freely around the city, many Gold Coasters turned out for the first race meet of this year’s Magic Millions carnival, while the GABS summer craft beer festival also drew a crowd.
It was a similar story on the Sunshine Coast.
Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said the quieter feeling around tourism hot spots outside the lockdown zone showed the value of day trippers to the economy.
“Day trippers generate almost as much money as international visitors (about $6 billion a year) so it makes up a significant part of visitation,” he said.
“If the people of Brisbane are obeying the lockdown as they should, then you would expect that to have some impact on tourist centres such as the Gold Coast or Sunshine Coast.”
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he was pleased many Brisbanites had followed the health advice to stay home, despite scenes of thousands of motorists piling out of the capital ahead of the Friday night shutdown.
“I’m delighted to hear there is widespread compliance with the lockdown and travel restrictions,” he said.
“I encourage everyone to keep up the good work.
“We all await the next health advice to see what restrictions will be needed, after 6pm Monday.”
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