TRAVEL FACES LONG RECOVERY
Every player is battling in this shrunken market
CORONA VIRUS lock downs have decimated Australian tourism enterprises, and desperate businesses are struggling to stay a float with one-tenth the customers they served in pre-COVID times.
George V el la’ s travel agency in N SW is a perfect example. Before corona virus forced the closure of Australia’ s borders ,65 per cent of Mr V el la’ s business related to international travel, 25 percent to cruising and just 10 percent to domestic travel.
But all of it came to a screeching halt in March.
“There’ s been no business, no cash flow ,” Mr V ella said.
“That’s the biggest problem. The bills keep coming, and we’ re still chasing payments from wholesalers. It’s time-consuming to retrieve funds we paid 10,12 months ago.”
Staffing at Break away Travel in Black town went from eight to three after the virus hit. Some were eligible for Job Keeper, most were not.
Mr V ella, who set up shop in 1975, has been trying to find ways to grow the 10 percent of the business that was focused on domestic travel, working with local clubs and ethnic associations for their group tour needs.
A similar pattern of decline and business pi voting is occurring along every step of the tourist journey.
The taxi you once took to the airport? There are now far fewer on the roads.
At the airport, oncebustling retail precinct sin terminals sit eerily silent. And on boarding a plane, you are likely to be greeted by a cabin attendant working a fraction of the hours they used to— some making extraordinary sacrifices to do so.
Virgin Australia cabin attendant Tracey Fitzgerald
recently worked a 30-hour week in Queensland, the most she had worked since March, but it required five days in hotel quarantine, as she is from Melbourne.
Colleagues from Perth and Adelaide were able to move about freely, but all Victorian staff had to put up with the quarantine–ar ule she said made her feel “segregated ”.
“But I loved being at work. People were enjoying the flight,” she said.
During the lock down period, Ms Fitzgerald said, she completed a T AFE course in workplace training and assessment, and started a side hustle in candle making.
P hi lippe Kronberg, general managerat Shangri-La Sydney, said that with no international arrivals, the hotel had tried to make the most of a“stay cation” market.
The recent opening of South Australia’ s borders had been a positive, and inquiries from other states were also picking up .“The Sydney New Year’ s Eve fireworks are huge for us. We’ re expecting to be full, although it will likely be all Australians ,” he said.