Australia puts out the welcome mat for international visitors
For the first time in two years, Australia is welcoming international visitors with high hopes of a strong travel recovery.
For the first time in almost two-years, Australia’s tourism industry is dusting off the welcome mat for international visitors after losing an estimated $90bn since the Covid crisis struck.
In all states and territories but Western Australia, fully vaccinated visitors are allowed into the country without the need to quarantine providing they return a negative Covid test soon after arrival.
A total of 56 flights from overseas are due to land on Monday from the US, United Arab Emirates, Asia and Canada, well down on pre-Covid levels of more than 300 inbound flights a day.
Before the pandemic struck in early 2020, international tourists spent just over $45bn a year in Australia, or more than $120m a day.
It is expected to take years to return to those levels, with several of Australia’s biggest visitor markets, including China, New Zealand and Japan, maintaining restrictions on travel or returning residents.
Tourism Australia is spending $40m on a campaign to help move the recovery along, and managing director Phillipa Harrison says the border reopening is a huge milestone.
“At Tourism Australia we are so excited to be welcoming back international visitors who make up a critical part of our visitor economy,” Ms Harrison said.
“We know Australia remains an incredibly desirable destination for international visitors and we can’t wait to once again share all of the unforgettable tourism experiences we have to offer here.”
Airlines reported fairly modest load factors for Monday’s flights but hope seats will fill up as confidence returned.
Australian Airports Association chief executive James Goodwin said the return of international travellers would be felt right across the sector. “In pre-Covid times 30 per cent of domestic air travellers were international passengers,” Mr Goodwin said.
“International tourists don’t just visit one Australian city. They fly from state to state to see all of what our nation has to offer.”
Although travel websites reported triple-digit increases in online searches for Australia in the last two weeks, bookings were more subdued or delayed until the second half of the year.
Overseas airlines warned confusion over state-based requirements for visitors had created a “booking hesitance”, and appealed for a unified approach to Covid testing nationwide. Australian Tourism Export Council managing director Peter Shelley said Monday’s reopening was an important first step but there was a long way to go.
“While the government has invested in global advertising to drive demand to return to Australia there are worrying signs consumers are wary of travelling here, with confusion over our various state travel restrictions and concern about snap border closures,” Mr Shelley said.
“Australia is a long-haul aspirational destination and people are concerned by what they’ve heard in the media about confusing state entry requirements and isolation protocols should they get Covid while here.”
In a positive sign, airlines were already scheduling extra capacity on Australian routes from next month with Emirates set to send four A380s a day into Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Singapore Airlines was also ramping up capacity, particularly into Western Australia, where 17 flights a week were scheduled from March 3, to coincide with the state’s reopening.
South American carrier LATAM announced its return to Sydney from March 29, the same day as British Airways planned to operate its first flight down under in two years.
Accommodation Association of Australia CEO Richard Munro said hotel operators were seeing positive signs particularly in the cities where thousands of rooms had sat vacant throughout much of the pandemic.
But he warned that guests should not expect service levels to be back to pre-Covid standards immediately due to the ongoing difficulty attracting hospitality staff.
“We’ve probably lost around 30 per cent of staff which for some properties means restrictions on room services and even the number of rooms able to be cleaned each day may be affected,” Mr Munro said.
“It’s really important we get the staffing back to the levels we need to, otherwise we won’t see the full potential of the industry which is so important to Australia’s economy.”
Managing director of Spicers Retreats David Assef said demand was definitely picking up on the back of the border announcement with city properties the main beneficiary.
However he was not expecting an overnight recovery, rather a gradual return.
“I think there’s a lot of discovery at the moment and then people will start working on their itineraries and working out when they will travel,” said Mr Assef.
“I expect we will see a lot more international visitors in the spring, so September onwards.”
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