Dire data for region
THE Cairns economy could take up to five years or more to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, according to the latest Herron Todd White CairnsWatch report.
The report showed that Cairns, as defined by the Cairns Regional Council area, had an economy worth $9.60 billion in 2018-19, which equates to 2.73 per cent of the total Queensland economy.
Herron Todd White Cairns research director Rick Carr said the city’s economic growth was now expected to drop into “negative territory”.
He said the unemployment rate across Cairns, the Cassowary Coast, Douglas and the Tablelands had also “skyrocketed in the last three months” due to coronavirus.
“The Cairns economy is reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, with tourism arrivals all but obliterated, the unemployment rate virtually doubling and other indicators down in the range of 20 per cent to 30 per cent,” he said.
“The key question now is the ongoing extent of the downturn, and at what stage business can start rebuilding again to get people back into jobs to improve business, economic and consumer confidence.
“No doubt though, economic growth for 2019-20 and 2020-21 will drop significantly down and into negative territory, from which, if the post-GFC period is any guide, it will again take five or more years to recover.”
Cairns economist Bill Cummings said, while the recovery of the Cairns economy would be long, opening the Queensland borders would be a starting point.
“We’re over the worst. It should start improving from here on,” he said.
“But it’ll be quite some time before we get international tourism back.
“It’s imperative that we get the state borders open to give us a chance to at least compensate for that loss of the international market and to get them open by July school holidays and the high period of the year, otherwise it’ll be a fairly long process.
“A lot of operators make their money at this time of the year through until about September/October. It’s normally the high season, of course, and it’s fairly important for their viability that we get the state borders open as well as just the intrastate travel.”