Big boost for Gold Coast tourism when border reopens to Greater Sydney
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has applauded the reopening of the border to Greater Sydney as “tactical marketing” continues to attract domestic tourists.
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Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has applauded the reopening of the border to Greater Sydney as “tactical marketing” continues to attract domestic tourists.
Cr Tate and Destination Gold Coast chair Paul Donovan said there was a prime opportunity to draw Sydneysiders and reel them back for repeat holidays with international trips ruled out.
But Queensland Airports Limited chief executive Chris Mills warned some people would be put off travelling due to erratic border closures.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed Thursday Queensland’s border would reopen to all of New South Wales from February 1.
The announcement blindsided NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, who was informed live on radio minutes later.
Cr Tate said it was “a great day for the Gold Coast and our small business operators”.
“Brilliant news and let’s hope this is the start of a post-COVID tourism rebound, given how important Greater Sydney is to all of Queensland,” he said.
“We are a resilient city and our recent accommodation bookings have been around 70 per cent occupancy. That is definitely down on traditional Christmas-New Year periods which have exceeded 85 per cent-plus.
“That said, we are on an upwards trend so let’s ensure we stay that way.”
Cr Tate said Destination Gold Coast was undertaking “tactical marketing” across the country to secure more domestic holiday-makers.
He said the council was “finalising some signature events for 2021” and he was “quietly confident that we will see a resurgence of Aussies falling in love with the Goldie all over again”.
Mr Donovan said the reopening would make a “hell of a difference”.
“There was something like five million Australians who went overseas in 2019 for leisure and holidays,” he said.
“There’s pent up demand so we need to make sure we keep the borders open, we keep everyone safe and the Gold Coast will be the first choice for everyone, for new and repeat visitation.”
Tallebudgera Creek Tourist Park manager Adrian Easdown said phones were “ringing off the hook”.
“The less restrictions the better. It’s great for us, we’re quite heartened,” he said.
“It takes away the uncertainty. Not everyone is across what the rules are, they’re always changing, so less restrictions and taking that uncertainty away for our guests is welcome.
“It’s just been a long slog, closing and opening, all the decisions that are made. We were pretty much empty for a couple of months.”
Mr Easdown said the park was “looking a little bit quiet’, but that would soon change.
Mr Mills was cautiously optimistic, but warned travel confidence would be impacted until there were “clear and reasonable rules in place for management of COVID-19 hot spots”.
“We anticipate flight and passenger numbers will increase in February,” he said.
“But we are aware that consumer sentiment has been impacted by previous closures which have occurred with little notice.
“There continues to be a need for a consistent national framework to be established to manage travel restrictions and hot spot definitions.”
MASSIVE NUMBER OF POLICE DIVERTED TO BORDER DURING CLOSURES
ABOUT 1300 police have worked off a 28-day roster to provide around-the-clock protection on the Queensland-NSW border since COVID-19 surfaced, state parliament has been told.
Southport MP Rob Molhoek asked police chiefs to drill down on the figures previously not available.
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“What impact has border control had on all the other (policing) issues?” Mr Molhoek asked.
“Obviously that has had a huge drain on resources. How many police have been taken off, say, the road policing unit and weapons licensing to support border control activities?”
Deputy Commissioner Stephan Gollschewski told the public hearing staged by the parliamentary health committee that the police response, at its peak, saw between 1200 and 1300 officers per 28-day roster.
“Unlike other agencies, obviously we are a 24/7 agency, particularly when doing things like border control and quarantine containment. Across that whole 24/7 process, we would use up to that (number),” he said.
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Police border staffing numbers had dropped to under 900 and in past weeks settled at 600.
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski admitted “we have shared the pain” across the service bringing in staff from all areas and the academy. A COVID command was created.
“I will not deny that it has been a challenge for us as an organisation,” he said.
Mr Molhoek asked, with the extension of these powers for another six months, when police resources would return to normal.
Deputy Commissioner Gollschewski told the hearing: “I think ‘normal’ is an interesting word. There is probably a new normal in all of this. We are a community safety agency. Above and beyond anything else, we want to keep our community safe.”
He said COVID remained a threat and the policing around it occurred without compromising other aspects of community safety.
“Our COVID command very much has a planning approach that we expect will perhaps need some sort of response into next year. We hope that it is sooner than that, but we are being realists in planning that this is a long haul and that we are able to do it properly,” he said.
Police had been involved in processing 848,236 passengers subject to checks of entry requirements and refused 1348 passengers’ entry into Queensland, directing 36,754 into quarantine.
“We have intercepted 1,182,498 vehicles at our road borders, turned around 14,417, which included 22,970 persons in those vehicles, and directed 19,432 into quarantine at the road borders.” the Deputy Commissioner said.
Gold Coast Chamber of Hall president Martin Hall told the hearing the government must consult more with businesses as smaller operators lost confidence about an economic recovery.
“The latest three-day lockdown had some serious consequences,” he said. “Whilst the Gold Coast was not included directly within the Brisbane lockdown, the Coast did feel the economic impact of an immediate cessation of normal holiday trade.
“In fact, a large shopping centre at the southern end of our region has seen a double-digit decrease year to date in foot traffic.”
The chamber wants “genuine consultation” outlining clearly what could be expected from a three, five or 10-day lockdown and the potential economic cost and economic losses.
“The last lockdown gave no capacity for businesses to plan day four. For example, a local pie shop did not know how much stock to have delivered and a local bar did not know how many staff to roster,” Mr Hall said.
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