Omicron scares people away from Sydney

The threat of Omicron has ‘stalled’ the post-lockdown rebound in spending on travel and accommodation in Sydney.

Sydneysiders are still getting back out to restaurants and cafes, but are not ramping up their spending on travel and transport, according to ANZ card data. Picture: Bianca De Marchi

The threat of Omicron has “stalled” the post-lockdown rebound in spending on travel and accommodation in Sydney, suggesting households have become more cautious in their movements as daily Covid cases reach new peaks in the state.

Card transaction data from the ANZ revealed accommodation spending in the NSW capital over the week to December 18 remained 70 per cent down on pre-Covid levels, even as spending on hotels and the like in Melbourne – which emerged from Delta restrictions more slowly than its northern neighbour – lifted strongly again to sit 30 per cent below pre-pandemic.

ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said the figures suggested “Sydney travel spending is stalling”.

Ms Timbrell said the bank’s aggregated transaction figures showed spending nationally on accommodation was improving, but that “Covid cases in NSW may be dulling demand for travel there, particularly in Sydney”.

The figures showed outside the country’s two biggest cities, travel spending in regional NSW and Victoria was running at just 10 per cent below pre-Covid levels.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet on Monday asked Australians to “move away from fear” and have confidence high levels of vaccination would protect against serious illness.

And with school kids beginning their first week of the summer break, Scott Morrison urged state and territory leaders to give “calm and consistent messages” about travel requirements ahead of Tuesday’s national cabinet meeting to discuss Omicron.

 

But as the number of daily cases surged, and as NSW and Victorians waited hours at overwhelmed testing clinics to prove they were Covid-free in to meet interstate travel requirements, the new figures were evidence that the negative headlines were affecting peoples’ behaviours, despite authorities preferring not to reinstate restrictions.

The ANZ transaction data suggested while residents were wary of moving too far from home for risk of a potentially contracting the disease – or being declared a close contact and forced into quarantine – spending on dining out and takeaway food in NSW was trending up in line with the rest of Australia, and at levels equivalent to those before the health crisis. Ms Birch said this was a hopeful sign “caution around local transmission has not hit spending (on dining out) yet”.

National spending on ANZ cards across categories and the country in the week to December 18 “was almost identical to last year”. Shopping was also in line with a year before – “a very positive sign ahead of the strongest trading days of the end of year shopping season”, Ms Birch said.

The data suggested more Australians would be receiving athletics gear this Christmas, with spending in sports stores “much stronger” than last Christmas. Spending on beauty items, clothing and jewellery was also popular, the figures showed, pointing to an increase in this category in December versus the same month in 2020. In contrast, demand for electronics goods and spending on the home and in department stores was running more slowly than 12 months earlier, the figures showed.