‘They are scared’: Tourism industry hit with mass holiday cancellations

Aussie tourism operators are being smashed by mass cancellations due to coronavirus restrictions, as the disturbing cost of the pandemic is revealed.

Tourism operators are being smashed by mass cancellations as Covid-19 restrictions brought in to curb Sydney’s Delta strain outbreak derails school holiday plans.

Border closures and new restrictions in NSW, including limits on where Sydneysiders can travel in their own state, have scrambled holiday plans across multiple states, with already struggling operators bracing for more pain.

And with school holidays upon us, operators say the restrictions could not have come at a worse time.

Baillie Lodge founder James Baillie said his Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island was fully occupied on Tuesday night, but after the restrictions were introduced, that dropped to 30 per cent.

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An empty domestic terminal at Sydney Airport on Friday as flights are cancelled due to restrictions in Sydney. Picture: Damian Shaw

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It wasn’t just residents who were unable to leave Greater Sydney – many of the cancellations came from people outside of the state.

“Queenslanders don’t want to travel because they have a fear of getting locked out of their state,” Mr Baillie told The Australian.

“It’s the same with South Australians and Western Australians … they are scared because of the skittish nature of premiers and borders.”

Hotelier Jerry Schwartz told The Australian there had been a cancellation rate of “at least 30 to 40 per cent” in his hotels across Sydney, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley and the Gold Coast.

“This always happens for the school holidays,” he said. “Because of Covid-19 we had plenty of cancellations at Christmas, Easter, Anzac Day and now for these school holidays.”

Gordon McCoullough, who owns Lake Jindabyne Estate at Lake Jindabyne, a popular winter holiday destination in NSW, said the majority of bookings over the school holidays had been from people in Sydney.

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A number of states have instituted travel bans as a result of the Sydney outbreak. Picture: Che Chorley

“We lost five months’ worth of business last year,” he told the ABC.

“We were looking like we were going to have probably the best winter we’ve ever had – our bookings were pretty much booked out for the whole of winter.

“Basically your income can disappear overnight.”

Sydney Airport chief executive Geoff Culbert said mass vaccination was the only way out of the repeated pattern of opening and closing borders.

“This is another crushing blow for the industry as school holidays are about to start,” he said. “We can’t keep going like this. The only path out is the vaccine and these border closures should snap us out of any complacency about getting vaccinated. If you’re in the tourism industry, it is a race for survival.”

Michelle Bishop, General Manager of Bangalay Luxury Villas in Shoalhaven Heads on the NSW south coast said the cancellations had been trickling in all week as the cases in Sydney started to surge.

Bangalay Luxury Villas in Shoalhaven Heads is now at just 50% capacity this weekend.

Bangalay Luxury Villas, Shoalhaven Heads, NSW. Picture: Supplied

Running luxury accommodation near the coastline, Ms Bishop said while winter is often quieter than other parts of the year - the past week of covid cases and subsequent lockdown restrictions means they will be at just 50 per cent capacity at best.

“I support what the government is doing, we need to get on top of it [Covid-19],” she told news.com.au.

“At least the affected areas are the only ones closing down. But unfortunately, dealing with cancellations makes us busier than normal so it’s hard to send everyone on leave while there is a quiet period [guest wise].”

The blow comes as figures released by Deloitte Access Economics revealed Australia’s tourism economy lost $34 billion in revenue from overseas visitors spending last year.

The report, prepared for Tourism Australia, also warned there was no guarantee Australia’s status as a world-class destination for high-yielding travellers would continue after national borders reopened, The Australian reported.