Coronavirus: Businesses brace for travel-ban body blow

The coronavirus outbreak is threatening to wipe out some tourism operators, with all parts of the industry dependent on Chinese visitors.

Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham. Picture: John Montesi

The coronavirus outbreak is threatening to wipe out some tourism operators, with all parts of the industry hugely dependent on Chinese visitors.

Federal Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham said Tourism Australia would immediately begin planning for Australia to re-establish itself as a “hugely popular and safe destination” for Chinese holidaymakers once travel ­restrictions were lifted.

“There is no doubt these travel restrictions from China, that have been put in place on the advice of our health experts to keep Australians safe and help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, will have a significant impact on our tourism industry,” he said.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1,458,500 people travelled to Australia from China between December 2018 and November last year.

Senator Birmingham said he had been working with his counterparts from the states and territories to minimise the impact of the coronavirus and the bushfires.

“These are challenging times for our tourism industry, with the double effect of the ongoing bushfire situations and these travel ­restrictions,” he said.

“We are pushing on with implementing our $76m bushfire recovery package, while looking to recalibrate any measures within our record tourism budget to mitigate the current pain being felt by many tourism businesses.”

Senator Birmingham said Australians should continue to travel with confidence around the country and help tourism operators.

“The best way Australians can support our tourism businesses and save local jobs is to book a trip in Australia and holiday here this year,” he said.

Sightseeing Tours Australia managing director Cameron Ward said the company was experiencing a 30 per cent drop in bookings.

“Right now everyone is watching and waiting, particularly if they are travelling and deciding whether they will come or whether they will stay home,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to customers from Canada and the US who are getting cold feet when it comes to travelling.”

Mr Ward said people who were concerned about the virus in Asia might decide to stay longer in Australia or might be worried about becoming infected on a plane or during a stopover in Asia.

Michael Johnson, chief executive of Tourism Accommodation Australia, said the travel restrictions had already hit hotels.

“Our entry points for the China market are coming through Cairns, Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne,” he said.

“These locations are where we will be hit the hardest because Chinese tourists travelling from overseas tend to day trip from these areas.”

Mr Johnson said a ban on group tours was of particular concern, with such tours representing “about 500,000 arrivals” a year.

Yet he remained confident of a rebound. “If we look at the SARS epidemic in 2002-03, the industry ­recovered very quickly,” he said.

Mr Johnson said the fallout had spread to other industries, with the conference ­sector also hit.

Additional reporting: Tessa Akerman