Coronavirus: Businesses on course for more Queensland border closure pain

Businesses are reeling from the sudden closure of the Queensland border to another 5 million people.

Go Golfing Travel’s Peter McCarthy says it is difficult to plan with the changing Queensland border rules. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

Businesses are reeling from the sudden closure of the Queensland border to another 5m people after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk declared greater Sydney a coronavirus hotspot.

The declaration on Wednesday barred entry into Queensland — without 14 day quarantine in a hotel — for anyone who had passed through Sydney.

That restriction was already in place for the council areas of Liverpool, Fairfield and Campbelltown, and all of Victoria.

The tourism industry has been particularly hard hit by the virus and stands to lose the most from the premier’s latest border closure, especially in regions like the Gold Coast.

Peter McCarthy, who is the chief executive of Go Golfing Travel, a Burleigh-based business that hosts golf-oriented travel experiences in Australia and internationally, said the ever-changing border situation was a bitter blow for businesses.

The company typically provides tours for about 11,000 people a year but since the pandemic began, it has cancelled 6500 trips.

“We’ve had 17 weeks of can­celling flights, golf bookings and accommodation,” Mr McCarthy said.

“As a business, we pivoted and focused on Australia’s big back yard. But obviously that requires borders being open.”

The latest border closure means 25 Sydney residents booked to attend a golf event in Noosa, will not be able to attend.

“We go do all the work, do the marketing, get people booked, but then we have to cancel them, and absorb all the admin and time costs of staff,” Mr McCarthy said.

“In terms of planning for our business, it’s two steps forward, one step back, after we’ve already gone down Everest.

“We’re at the whim of government decisions, which is a very vulnerable position for business to be in.”

Destination Gold Coast marketing director Carla Anderson said the government’s decision to declare Sydney a hotspot was a “setback” to the region’s economic recovery.

The tourism body predicted the pandemic will cost the region, which drew in 665,000 Sydney visitors in the year to March, up to $4.3bn in lost revenue.

Ms Palaszczuk, who weathered criticism for her reluctance to reopen the borders after the initial lockdown, was on Thursday unmoved by recent criticism of the decision to declare greater Sydney a hotspot, saying it was a necessary precaution.

“We need to make sure that Queensland is safe and then we can go about our daily jobs and duties in whichever way that means,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“I’m sorry if there are some cancellations, but Queenslanders can support Queenslanders during this time.”

Sarah Colgate, managing director of Aquaduck Safaris, which provides amphibious bus tours on the Gold Coast, said “customers are better than money” provided by the government.

“We don’t want handouts, we want our businesses,” she said.

Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told the Tourism and Transport Forum’s annual summit the “on again, off again” border closure to Sydneysiders would deter holiday-makers from making future bookings.

“It concerns me that what we will see as a result of the on again off again approach on these things is a real denting of confidence when it comes to consumers making forward bookings in the future, and that’s a real challenge and problem for the industry,” he said.

Ms Colgate said the company’s hopes for a bumper September school holiday period had been dashed. She’s now holding out hope for Christmas trade.

“It’s hard because public health always comes first before the economy,” Ms Colgate said.

“The premier is in the best ­position with the best information. She only wants to protect us but we do need an economic plan out of this.”