Australia among 10 countries hardest hit by COVID tourism revenue loss

As international borders remain clamped shut, Australia has found itself on a top 10 list of countries it really doesn’t want to be on.

It’s the billion dollar list Australia doesn’t want to be on.

As Australians are dealt more bad news about international travel and with uncertainty lingering around domestic borders, Australia has been named among the top 10 countries that have suffered the biggest losses in tourism revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The damning list by visa waiver processing firm Official ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation) was compiled using data from the World Travel and Tourism Council and the World Bank.

It found the United States, which has reported more COVID-19 cases and deaths than any country in the world, also took the biggest hit to its tourism economy, losing $A191.8 billion in the first 10 months of 2020.

Australia lost $A35.44 billion in tourism revenue in the same period, putting it in eighth spot on list.

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Australia shut its borders to everyone but returning Australian citizens and residents in March, however New Zealanders have been allowed to return.

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“The past year has been extremely difficult for the travel and tourism industry, with the unpredictable circumstances resulting in countries being forced to close their borders to tourists, often with little notice,” Jayne Forrester, Director of International Development at Official ESTA, said in a statement.

“As a result, the pandemic has had a huge financial impact on tourism globally, affecting all countries around the world, as well as airlines, travel operators and other hospitality providers in the sector.”

Spain lost the most tourism revenue that any other country in Europe in 2020, with $A60.84 billion, according to Official ETSA.

It was followed by France ($A54.76 billion), Thailand ($A48.85 billion) and Germany ($A45.12 billion).

Italy, which was the first major COVID-19 hot spot outside of China and usually one of the most visited countries in the world, took a $A38.64 billion hit to its economy, while UK followed in seventh place with a loss of $A36.33 billion.

In ninth place was Japan, which was forced to delay the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and lost $A33.9 billion in tourism revenue, and Hong Kong, which rounded out the top 10 list with a loss of $A31.35 billion.

The pandemic forced Japan to reschedule the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Picture: Charly Triballeau/AFP

The release of the list comes as Australia’s tourism operators brace for further pain after Australia’s top health chief Brendan Murphy warned yesterday international borders were unlikely to be fully reopened until 2022.

Australia shut its international border in March, with only returning Australian citizens and residents allowed to enter the country, as well as some exempted travellers.

New Zealanders have been able to return under the first stage of the trans-Tasman travel bubble.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond has called for a “pay-packet support exercise” similar to JobKeeper to survive extended international border closures and uncertainty around domestic borders.

“At the very least, we are going to need an extension of JobKeeper or a version of it. We’re keen to talk to government about that,” Ms Osmond told ABC News Breakfast on Tuesday.

“I do think there is a larger issue to do with the strategic survival of the industry. You step outside the ring around most capital cities, the sort of two- to four-hour drive ring, and you

will see real pain in the industry and in the centre of CBDs, which have largely died.

“So we are going to need a much more strategic approach.”

Ms Osmond said while the industry supported measures to keep Australians safe from COVID-19, the federal help was essential to helping the industry stay afloat.

“If we don’t do these things, we will be lucky to have a tourism industry in 12, 18 months’ time,” she said.

“We can’t recover without international borders opening and we can’t survive without certainty to do with domestic borders.”

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond has called for more Federal Government assistance for the battered tourism sector. Picture: Toby Zerna

Meanwhile, new figures released by Nine Newspapers reveal NSW is losing $A180 million per week as states continue with tough border restrictions.

Victoria has announced 25 out of the 35 NSW LGAs which had been locked out of the state for weeks would move from red to orange under the so-called traffic light system, letting

trapped Victorians return home and NSW residents enter Victoria under certain conditions.

However, 10 LGAs are still barred from Victoria, while other states continue to keep their borders shut to millions of NSW residents.

The continued border closures comes even after the Federal Government declared the entire country was now hot spot free.

Government figures from Destination NSW show visitors from other states spent $A9.5 billion in NSW in 2019 – around $A180 million per week.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet are urging other states to scrap travel restrictions.

“The more borders are opened up, the better the chance people have of getting back to work and getting on with their lives,” Mr Perrottet said, according to Nine Newspapers.