Queensland tourist tsunami a ‘turning point’ for travel industry
Almost a quarter of a million people from NSW, Victoria and the ACT poured into Queensland since borders reopened last Monday.
A tsunami of tourists surging into Queensland from interstate has been described as the “turning point” for the travel industry after almost two years of disruption.
In the week since borders reopened to New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT, 225,788 people have flocked to Queensland, not including those in the “border bubble” and from other states.
Numbers were set to climb even higher this week in response to school holidays, with 30,000 people landing in or driving into Queensland on Monday alone.
Although some operators were seeing cancellations as a result of rising Omicron cases, in most cases any vacancies were being filled by last-minute holiday-seekers.
Tourism Port Douglas Daintree chief executive Tara Bennett said it was wonderful to see the region come alive with visitors again. “We’re seeing great pick-up in the past two days on the back of the New South Wales and Victorian school holidays,” Ms Bennett said.
“We’ve lingered around 30 per cent occupancy for some time but the pick-up started as soon as the borders reopened, and accelerated in the last couple of days.”
On the Sunshine Coast, just a handful of vacancies remained as tourists flocked to Noosa, Mooloolaba and Caloundra.
Visit Sunshine Coast CEO Matt Stoeckel said there was still some nervousness about travel, with bookings strong through Christmas and New Year then dropping off mid-January.
“While the Sunshine Coast would normally have been full for the Christmas period many months in advance, final bookings are still coming in,” he said.
“What we are hoping is that as more certainty returns to interstate travel, we will fill for the remainder of January, which is normally close to capacity.”
Destination Gold Coast was hopeful a range of new attractions would keep crowds flocking to the region, including the $30m Steel Taipan rollercoaster at Dreamworld, a new water slide and splash zone at Wet’n’Wild and Currumbin Sanctuary’s new Extinction Trail.
Bookings were strong across accommodation, tours and attractions but there were still opportunities for holiday deals.
DGC CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said summer promised to be a “turning point for tourism” with visitors set to deliver a $280m boost to the local economy.
Gold Coast Airport CEO Chris Mills said it welcomed 52,000 passengers in the past week, more than for the entire month of November when only 35,000 people travelled. “Things have been operating relatively smoothly and passenger compliance with government systems and processes and the Covid-19 safe hygiene and distancing practices has been excellent so far,” he said.
An Australian Airports Association survey showed the strong figures in Queensland may not last with 62 per cent of potential passengers nervous about flying. AAA chief executive James Goodwin said their fears were based on rising Omicron cases and the risk they would be forced into quarantine and lose money on flights and accommodation.
“Passenger numbers at Australian airports are still well below pre-pandemic levels, even with Christmas days away,” he said.
Flight Centre data showed domestic bookings in the past week increased 15 per cent.
International bookings surged 45 per cent, with London the top destination, followed by Fiji, Delhi, Los Angeles and Bangkok.
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