Sydney outbreak set to ruin July school holidays for struggling tourism industry

From Lord Howe Island to the Gold Coast, hoteliers are again reporting mass school holiday cancellations due to the latest Covid-19 restrictions.

Tourism player Dr Jerry Schwartz is confident tourist will return to Australia once international travel ramps up again. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

From Lord Howe Island to the Gold Coast, hoteliers report mass school holiday cancellations due to the latest Covid-19 restrictions.

Baillie Lodge founder James Baillie said his up-market 10-suite Capella Lodge on Lord Howe Island had been fully occupied on Tuesday night, but by Wednesday night it had dropped to 30 per cent.

He said Queenslanders were cancelling Lord Howe because they did not want to transit through Sydney Airport.

“Queenslanders don’t want to travel because they have a fear of getting locked out of their state. It’s the same with South Australians and Western Australians, they have a fear …

“They are scared because of the skittish nature of premiers and borders,” said Mr Baillie, adding that Capella Lodge, which charges $1800 a night per couple including partial board, would have attracted a significant number of guests from Sydney’s eastern suburbs, a key Covid-19 hotspot, who have also cancelled.

Hotelier Jerry Schwartz, who owns landmark hotels in the Sydney CBD, Blue Mountains, NSW Hunter Valley and the Gold Coast, said there had been significant cancellations across his 14-hotel portfolio due to the tightened borders.

Baillie Lodges founder James Baillie. Picture: Supplied.

“There’s been a cancellation rate of at least 30 to 40 per cent because people can’t get out of Sydney,” Dr Schwartz said.

“This always happens for the school holidays. Because of Covid-19 we had plenty of cancellations at Christmas, Easter, Anzac Day and now for these school holidays.”

According to some reports, cancellation rates in Gold Coast and Cairns hotels have been running as high as 60 per cent for the two-week NSW public school holidays, which begin on Monday.

But others say Australia’s tourism operators have even more pressing problems.

Australia’s longstanding ability to attract big-spending international holiday-makers could soon be challenged by competitor countries such as New Zealand, the US and Britain.

A new federal government-commissioned report by Deloitte Access Economics – “The Value of Tourism” – reveals Australia shed $34bn in overseas holiday-maker spending last year, with tourism officials concerned that after the pandemic, local operators, hoteliers and airlines will be unable to keep attracting high-yielding holiday-makers from the US, Asia and Europe.

The report found Australia’s position as a world-class destination for high-yielding travellers was not guaranteed.

 

While the World Economic Forum rates Australia highly, the nation has a significant number of rival countries competing for the tourist dollar.

Mr Baillie, who also has resorts in the Northern Territory and Far North Queensland, agrees.

“The rest of the world is opening up and getting on with the reality that Covid will be part of our world and future for many years to come,” Mr Baillie said.

“And so the reality is that in a competitive world market in terms of high-yielding tourism, Australia runs the risk that if it is battened down it effectively risks being forgotten.

“That is the harsh reality.”

Mr Baillie said state premiers were closing down whole economies because of a few Covid cases, “and yet you can look to many other parts of the world that have thousands of Covid cases and they are fully reopening tourism”.

 

According to the Deloitte report “the global landscape for tourism is expected to become even more competitive as countries look to reinvigorate their tourism industries as part of their economic recovery strategies following Covid-19.

“Australia’s tourism sector could be in a vulnerable position if travel restrictions remain in place beyond that of competitor nations, resulting in potential travellers who would be planning to travel Australia opting to travel to another country with similar attributes as Australia.”

But Dr Schwartz disagrees.

He said that once international borders opened Australia would be deemed a very popular destination not only due to our safety record on Covid but because of all the facilities and experiences this country could provide.