Covid-19: Touch and go as tourism waits for post-lockdown take-off

Tourism leaders fear operators will struggle to survive until vaccination rates rise high enough for borders to reopen.

Wildlife officer McKenzie Sirmon with Pretzel at a deserted Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane on Thursday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Tourism leaders have welcomed a commitment by Qantas to restart international flights in December but warned many operators would struggle to survive until then.

With border closures to NSW and Victoria likely to extend into October, spring school holidays were shaping up as another lost cause for businesses.

At Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane’s west, staff would normally snap 500 pictures a day of guests cuddling the star attractions. On Thursday, just three photos were taken.

“State border closures and the uncertainty of travel have further increased the devastating effect Covid-19 is having on our business,” general manager Lyndon Discombe said. “We are just fortunate the owners (Kamori Kanko Corporation) are committed to keeping the sanctuary operating … during this difficult time.”

Australian Tourism Industry Council deputy chairman Daniel Gschwind said many businesses were not so fortunate, with an estimated 660,000 jobs now at stake, or two-thirds of those employed in the industry.

“Things are diabolical. They are as bad as they have ever been and the outlook is bleak,” said Mr Gschwind. “We have no inter­national tourists, there’s very little interstate travel and even the intrastate market is depressed.

“From a tourism point of view, it doesn’t matter if you’re in or out of lockdown because if your customers are locked down then you don’t have any money coming in.”

Federal Tourism Minister Dan Tehan said the $2.35bn loss posted by Qantas for the year to June 30 was a stark illustration of the impact of border closures and lockdowns. He said it was “incredibly important” for the travel industry that the country stuck to the four-phase plan for reopening.

“We’ve seen what’s happened to the Qantas results,” Mr Tehan told Sky News. “We need to get them flying again domestically.”

Qantas boss Alan Joyce was tipping December 1 for domestic borders to reopen, followed by an international take-off on December 17 after vaccination rates reached 80 per cent.

Flights to Britain, the US, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Fiji and New Zealand would be the first to resume, followed by services to Bali, Manila, Bangkok, Phuket and Johannesburg in April.

As an added incentive to get the jab, Mr Joyce promised the early return of Qantas’s popular A380 aircraft to carry passengers between Sydney and LA from next July. But he conceded it was all dependent on state and territory leaders honouring national cabinet’s plan for easing restrictions. “I think it would be a terrible shame if by Christmas in NSW you can visit your relatives in London but you can’t visit your relatives in Perth,” he said. “Hopefully we get some consistency with ­national cabinet pushing to open up Australia and for us not to be a hermit nation going forward.”

In a more pointed threat to the West Australian government, Mr Joyce flagged the likelihood of Qantas moving its non-stop Perth-London flight to Darwin.

The news drew a sharp rebuke from Premier Mark McGowan.

“Punishing a state for being Covid-free, and for supporting the national economy and the revenues of the commonwealth, is outrageous,” he said. “[Qantas] need to show some understanding and perhaps some gratitude.”

Additional reporting: Paul Garvey

Originally published as Covid-19: Touch and go as tourism waits for post-lockdown take-off