Coronavirus: 74 per cent of Australians reconsidering travel plans, survey finds

Nearly three-quarters of Australians are reconsidering travel plans as the Omicron variant hits consumer confidence, a major survey has found.

Only 2 per cent of Australians plan to head overseas this Christmas, the survey found.

Nearly three-quarters of Australians are reconsidering their travel plans as the Omicron variant hits consumer confidence, a major tourism survey has found.

While about 60 per cent of respondents claim they are not more concerned about the new variant compared to previous strains, more than half of respondents say the lack of consistency in rules among different states and territories is worrying.

About 74 per cent of respondents say Omicron has “negatively impacted” their travel plans.

The survey, conducted by the Tourism and Transport Forum, asked about 1500 people about travel and whether they would be going away in December and January.

Only 2 per cent of Australians plan to head overseas this Christmas, the survey found. More than three-quarters are looking to travel in their own state, while the remaining 20 per cent said they will visit another state or territory.

TTF chief executive Margy Osmond said the survey revealed a clear mistrust among Australians and their government’s response to Covid-19.

The survey found more than 50 per cent of respondents had “no confidence in making any interstate travel arrangements”, while 41 per cent had some trust and only 6 per cent were confident to book without hesitation.

Asked which states and territories which would be most likely to shut their border at a moment’s notice, more than 52 per cent of respondents voted for Western Australia. Queensland received the second-largest number of votes, at 19 per cent, while Victoria and NSW received 11 per cent each.

“I don't think there’s any doubt that there’s a huge trust gap for people in terms of certainty around borders and what governments may do. And that’s very much focused on Western Australia and Queensland, which is not surprising,” Ms Osmond said.

“I do think that given the trust levels in New South Wales and Victoria, you'll probably see a reasonable amount of cross-border activity.”

The emergence of the Omicron variant has directly affected 22 per cent of respondents’ travel plans — of whom 20 per cent postponed their trip altogether, 12 per cent have cancelled travel plans and 67 per cent are awaiting further advice.

A further 24 per cent of respondents say they are undecided whether Omicron has affected travel plans and 55 per cent the variant has not changed anything.

The issues most affecting consumer confidence were short-notice lockdowns, inconsistency among state rules, a fear of not being able to get home, the emergence of new Covid-19 strains, backdating isolation requirements, loss of money and the stress experienced after border rules are changed.

While TTF doesn’t expect international travel to be in full swing until mid-2022, the outlook on domestic travel appears to be devastating for many tourism operators, Ms Osmond said.

“The tourism industry can’t survive without the certainty of the domestic market,” she said.

Ms Osmond said the forum spoke to dozens of businesses in the third quarter of this year.

“About a third said that they wouldn’t be here after this Christmas. That’s a very substantial figure,” she said.

She urged the government to restore confidence in the travel industry.

“Omicron, unfortunately, is a bit like the icing on the cake for people’s uncertainty.”