High hopes of Easter return of international visitors

Tourism operators have welcomed the Prime Minister’s assurance international borders should fully reopened by Easter.

Tourism operators have been assured by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that international borders should fully reopen before Easter, providing medical advice supports the move.

Speaking on Cairns radio, Mr Morrison offered a glimmer of hope for the hard-hit travel industry but stopped short of confirming a specific date.

“I’d like to see us get there soon, certainly before Easter, well before Easter,” he said.

“We’ve just got to get some medical advice further on that, a bit more work to do with the states to make sure we’re comfortable about (reopening).”

Under current restrictions, only Australian citizens and permanent residents, their families and visitors from NZ, Singapore, Japan and South Korea who have certain visas and exemptions are allowed to enter the country.

In recent weeks, calls have increased for all travel restrictions to be eased in recognition of the fact overseas travellers posed no greater threat to the spread of Covid-19 than the general public.

Australian Tourism Industry Council deputy chief Daniel Gschwind said that with such high vaccination levels throughout the country, the time had come to open up.

“We should be in a confident enough position to let people in, not just in current categories but for all who wish to travel to Australia,” he said.

“Airlines, airports, tour operators, they all need to prepare for this. You can’t just flick a switch, so the more certainty we have about a date the better.”

Daniel Gschwind. Picture: Sarah Marshall

Dennis Bunnik. Picture: Brenton Edwards

Council of Australian Tour Operators chairman Dennis Bunnik agreed some notice was needed ahead of any reopening after two years without international visitors.

He said any move towards reopening borders and easing restrictions was a good start but government support was crucial.

“In order to gear up, the industry needs to invest and bring back staff. After almost two years of zero revenue, that’s very difficult to do,” said Mr Bunnik.

“The government not only needs to open borders but to support the industry with staff and training.”

The cruise industry was also desperate for a relaxation of restrictions under which ships were banned from Australian shores.

Clean Cruising general manager Dan Russell said any move towards a full reopening of international borders must extend to cruise ships.

“We’re very pleased with the Prime Minister’s comments but if he is ready to open Australia to international visitors, he should also be ready to lift the international cruise ban from February 17 or sooner,” said Mr Russell.

“Australia’s vaccination is significantly higher than the US, UK and European markets which are all moving full steam ahead (with cruising).”

Despite the lack of certainty, travel bookings continued to grow week-on-week, according to data from Flight Centre.

For the week to January 23, international bookings climbed 22 per cent compared to the previous week, while domestic flight bookings were up 17 per cent.