Coronavirus: tour operators want some southern comfort

North Queensland tourism operators are pleading with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to reopen the borders.

Araceli and Gwen from Spain, with Clara and Fran from Argentina, at Geoffrey Bay on Magnetic Island on Sunday. Picture: Cameron Laird

North Queensland tourism operators are pleading with Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to reopen the state’s borders before the end of their peak winter season, so southerners can flee north and resurrect the industry.

Ms Palaszczuk said on Sunday the border would remain closed for June, but has accelerated the return of intrastate travel for Queenslanders in what she said would be a “shot in the arm” for the beleaguered sector.

From today, Queenslanders will be able to travel anywhere in the state — except locked-down remote indigenous communities — and stay overnight, more than a month sooner than previously flagged. “It’s almost like a Queensland bubble for the month of June,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

Aquascene Charters owners Adam and Stephanie Hinks with daughters Melia and Abbie at Magnetic Island. Picture: Cameron Laird

Pubs, restaurants and clubs will be able to have 20 people in each section of their venues from the end of the week, a fast-tracked return for some businesses. Gyms, community sport, cinemas, and churches will also operate under the same rules. Weddings will have 20 guests, while funerals can host 50 mourners.

But Ms Palaszczuk said the border closure would not be reconsidered until the end of the month, and the earliest it would reopen was two weeks after that, dependent on data to be given to national cabinet in a fortnight.

While the tourism industry has applauded Ms Palaszczuk’s decision to rush the return of intrastate travel, operators are still desperate for southern business during their peak winter season. Adam Hinks and his wife, Stephanie, run Aqua­scene Charters, a snorkelling adventure tour company on Magnetic Island, a 25-minute ferry ride from Townsville.

“This (intrastate travel decision) is not the magic wand that fixes everything, but it’s a step in the right direction and it’s given us hope, which we really needed,” Mr Hinks said. “(But) financially, the border has to open while it’s still winter. We rely on southerners and winter — when there’s a cold change in Sydney and Melbourne, our phone starts ringing. That’s the time of year to get us through the rest of the year.”

The Queensland government’s first “roadmap” for easing restrictions, released last month, set July 10 as the date for a possible return to interstate and intrastate travel.

But in the latest roadmap, released on Sunday, interstate travel has disappeared entirely. The plan promises to review the border closure at the end of each month.

Queensland Tourism Industry Council CEO Daniel Gschwind said the sector would continue to push for the border to be reopened. Two-thirds of domestic travel in Queensland is intrastate visitors, he said. “The future is becoming a lot more viable for many operators with this announcement,” he said.

LNP leader Deb Frecklington said Ms Palaszczuk should stick with the government’s original July 10 interstate travel date, and stop “constantly flip-flopping”.

Queensland recorded no new coronavirus diagnoses at the weekend, with just five active cases across the state from a total of 1058 since the outbreak began.